RWBY: The Edge of Possibility
by DarkGod86
Summary: Follow Team RWBY as they are thrust into an unnatural chain of events full of action, mystery, romance, and shenanigans following the appearance of a mysterious individual who does not belong in the world of Huntsman and Huntresses. Heavy use of OCs, language, violence, and mild sexual themes. Read at your own discretion.
1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

I, DarkGod86, present to you a tale filled with action, humor, romance, and shenanigans. This is my first real attempt at writing fan fiction, my second real attempt at writing fiction in general. This fic was conceived after going 30+ hours without sleep, thrown together in order to keep myself awake for the last precious hours of the night, and has since evolved into something greater. I can't say I originally intended to put this much work into this fic, but here we are.

This work of fanfiction is based in the universe of RWBY. It is mostly written for myself, as well as those who have put their time and thoughts into helping me write it, and thus relies heavily upon the use of original characters as we follow Team RWBY into a strange new adventure, having grown up into some of the finest Huntresses in Remnant. Some of the characters may be heavily overpowered, though this is not without purpose.

As for content, I'm rating this M, by my own discretion, for language, gore, and some sexual themes. If you have problems with OCs, language, gore, sexual themes, Bumblebees, White Roses, or overpoweredness, you may want to look the other way. However, if you have come here simply for an interesting story, then you might enjoy this fantasy concocted in the imagination of a bored young man.

RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth and the late Monty Oum. All original characters, and things relating directly to them, belong either to myself or the friends who contributed their creativity to this story. Please do not use any original content without permission.

Now, I hope you enjoy this tale, and I send you off to a snowy forest outside the city of Atlas, where two Huntresses wait, unaware of the chaos they are about to be thrown into...

* * *

 **Prologue**

"I wonder what it would be like to be a God…"

"Uhhhhhhh… what?"

"What would it be like to be a God?" the black-haired cat faunus said, seemingly staring off to the edges of the universe.

"Uhm, I dunno, but right now we have to figure out how we're supposed to raid a heavily guarded safe house before the White Fang destroys the information that we're here for." the young red-hooded girl chimed back.

"Do you think _he's_ here?"

"Blake, we don't have time for this. If we screw this up, I'll never hear the end of it from Weiss, and Yang would probably kick both our asses."

"Sorry, it's just… we're so close. We're just out of arm's reach from tearing this whole thing down once and for all… and I can't help but think how close I was to being on the other side of this all…"

"There's no point in thinking about that. You're here because you were stronger than the White Fang, you were better than the violence and hatred. We're here to put a stop to it once and for all, but we can't do shit if you can't focus!"

"Right, sorry. Just got a little sidetracked. How many are there?"

"Atta girl…"

"How. Many."

"Uhh, I see two in front of the door, and there's four more patrolling the building. There's at least half a dozen more patrolling the treeline, and my thermal is picking up a handful of snipers in the trees."

"Anyone inside?"

"I can't see anything, the building must have thi-"

"HEY, YOU TWO?! WHADDAYA THINK YOU'RE DOING HERE?!"

"Shit." both girls cursed in unison.

* * *

 _Somewhere, in a vastly different universe…_

"I just don't see where I fit in this grand war you're waging!"

"My son, you are the ultimate weapon! You can walk where their seals keep me from entering, you can strike them down in the very places they consider safe!"

The rebuttal came from an absolutely monstrous individual with dark grey skin and jet black hair. He stood at over 26 feet tall, with a 20 foot battle-axe with blades larger than a grown man by his side. His booming voice echoed throughout the dark chamber which seemed to have no end.

"I could also wipe every last one of them out with A **THOUGHT** if you would just let me tap into the power that you gave me!"

This voice came from a much more normal-looking individual standing at a couple inches under nine feet, his skin with a little more human tint. His hair shared the same color as that of his "father", though longer and ornamented with bloodstones in the back. His blood red eyes burned with defiance towards the larger immortal's way of thinking.

"Preposterous! Our enemies would never allow such a thing to happen!"

"Allow it to happen? **ALLOW** it to happen?! They wouldn't be able to do a **SINGLE** **GODDAMNED** **THING** about it! You designed me as the GOD, the **LORD** AND **MASTER** of **NONEXISTENCE**! I am THE **GOD** OF THE **END OF ALL THINGS**! Yet you insist on waging this **STUPID** war that has been literally going on for **MILLENNIA** just so you can take control of **ONE STUPID SYSTEM**! **ONE!** A **SINGLE** **GODDAMNED SOLAR SYSTEM** IN AN ENTIRE **UNIVERSE** OF SOLAR SYSTEMS IN AN ENTIRE **MULTIVERSE** OF UNIVERSES! EXCUSE **ME** if I don't exactly see the POINT of having me WALTZ INTO THEIR FRONTLINES and whack them with a FUCKING **SWORD**!"

" **SILENCE!** This war has been going on far longer than you have even existed! I created you as the perfect weapon, a tool which to wage war against my eternal enemies until every single one of them is dragged into The Void and subjugated to my will!"

"If you wanted a weapon, maybe you should have forged a SWORD instead of another God!"

"How dare-"

"Don't even bother! I don't need your input to figure out how my powers work! Your greatest mistake was that you forged a God more powerful than yourself!"

"You.. how…"

"I'm done with your stupid fucking war and your idiotic customs! There are far more interesting universes to explore than this wretched warzone!"

The shorter immortal summoned a large ornately forged scythe into existence, and with a single swing opened a doorway into the fabric of existence, and promptly disappeared into the multiverse.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: When Shit Hits the Fan…**

"Every time we fight together, I gain a greater appreciation for that semblance of yours."

The body of a man, in standard White Fang soldier uniform, lay face down in the snow, blood seeping into the snow around his neck. Blake stood behind him, wearing a dark grey winter coat lined with black fur, bearing her emblem in dark purple on the back, with jet black insulated cargo pants and black combat boots. Her sword, now stained with blood, featured a glossy black single-edged blade swept slightly back and hooked behind the tip. The gun section of Gambol Shroud featured a silver inlay of a cat encircled by the backdrop of the moon, with a spike under the muzzle of the gun. The other half of Gambol Shroud, now a long dagger, featured a receptacle for a vial of dust, allowing it to achieve various effects both for combat and utility. Ruby lay on her back, clearly having been ready to obliterate the unlucky faunus who stumbled upon their vantage point, her signature red cloak having been made heavier and lined on the inside with black fur for the cold wintery environment, Under that, she chose a simple red-accented black winter jacket with matching snow pants and combat boots. Crescent Rose had been upgraded as well, featuring a quick semi-automatic action, lighter-weight and more durable parts, and a form factor that better resembled a rifle when collapsed. The scythe blades of Crescent Rose had been upgraded to a lighter weight but more durable alloy produced by the Schnee Dust company, allowing Ruby to easily cut through tempered steel with enough force. Hidden within the haft of Crescent Rose was a short and lightweight sword meant for close combat.

"Ruby, how long do we have before they notice that they're down a guy?"

"They usually check in about every 30 minutes, so by my estimate we should still have a good ten minutes before the next check in."

"Then we have to move. I'll rush in and draw their attention, once they're focused on me start picking them off one by one."

"Gotcha, be careful Blake. Yang would have my head if I brought you back with even a scratch."

"Don't worry about me, I can handle a few goons."

* * *

The red-eyed immortal scanned the room carefully. Pretty much everything except for him was either scorched or blasted to bits, including some humanoid beings that had been present in the room upon his arrival. Scorched bits of paper flitted down through the air, no longer being disturbed by the distortions caused by interdimensional travel. A light in embedded in the ceiling slowly started to flicker on, having survived the previous commotion, though the immortal could see just fine without it. Closer inspection revealed the room to have been a sort of planning room, and the bodies strewn across it appeared to be those of soldiers, each bearing an emblem of a bestial head with claw marks through it as well as the assortment of weapons carried by the men.

The immortal let out a breath. "Don't tell me I've just ended up in the middle of another war." The room definitely appeared to be dedicated to strategic planning, the tattered remnants of what appeared to be a marked-up map of the area still hanging off the wall. The immortal's contemplation of his choice of universe was cut short by a commotion outside the only door to the room. He could only faintly pick up the sounds of struggle and metal biting into flesh, the room having obviously been soundproofed, before two women burst into the room, one in a red cloak and the other with peculiar triangular ears on her head.

* * *

Blake and Ruby burst through the door of the planning room only to be frozen in shock at what they saw. The entire room was in ruins, looking like someone had set off a few fire dust crystals inside. Everything inside, including the White Fang soldiers and whatever information they had on the Coalition, was absolutely destroyed, except for a single light and a figure seemingly untouched by the chaos surrounding him. This man was the real reason Blake and Ruby were frozen. They'd trained for four years at Beacon to become Huntresses. They brought down Cinder Fall and Roman Torchwick, crippled the White Fang, and exposed the Coalition's plans to the world. They'd been doing mission after mission for two years since graduating. They knew how to recognize danger, and every fiber of their being was telling them that this man, standing almost nine feet tall and staring them down with gleaming blood red eyes, was a major threat. This standoff continued for nearly a minute before Ruby worked up the courage to speak.

"W-w-wh-who-o a-are y-you?"

The man simply stared back at Ruby, seemingly staring straight into the depths of her soul. Ruby tried to find her voice again, this time raising her voice.

"W-who are you!?"

"I am Kelas Sekarian, Archangel of the Dark Legion and God of Nothing. What is this place?"

"Y-you have a lot of n-nerve, c-calling yourself a G-g-god!" Blake spat out.

"I did not choose my title, nor my status. This world, what do you call it?"

"R-remnant…" Ruby replied nervously, taking a step back.

"What is your purpose here?" The tall man shifted his stance, narrowing his gaze at Ruby.

"W-we came here t-to hunt down a t-terrorist group a-and get i-information on their e-employers…"

" _Why the hell are you answering his questions?_ " Blake hissed at Ruby.

"It appears any information that could be found here was destroyed during my arrival. Does that passage lead outside?" The man said, gesturing out the door towards the stairway the girls had just rushed down.

"Y-yea"

"I will be leaving then, this world may prove entertaining after all." The man said as he started walking towards the exit. "It is likely that we will cross paths again." As the man passed, the girls felt a powerful presence bearing down on them, forcing them to drop to their knees, "May the fates be in your favor." and with that the mysterious stranger climbed the stairs and vanished into the forest.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Setbacks**

"You **WHAT?!** " The voice of the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company could be heard clear through the great wooden doors of her office.

"Weiss, I-"

"YOU **DOLT!** THERE WAS ONE GUY AND YOU JUST LET HIM **WALK AWAY?** WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! HE **DESTROYED** ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT WAS THERE AND **YOU- YOU DOLT-** YOU JUST LET HIM **WALTZ** RIGHT ON OUTTA THERE! WHY I OUGHT TO-"

"GODDAMNIT WEISS WOULD YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR JUST ONE MINUTE!" The fiery blond next to the Schnee CEO burst out. "Just chill the fuck out for a little bit and let them explain."

After the incident at the White Fang safe house, Blake and Ruby had silently agreed that they couldn't waste any time getting a report back to their partners. The two of them sat in Weiss' office, still in their winter gear. Ruby, after being the victim of Weiss' outburst, was trying as hard as she could not to make eye contact with the silver haired girl, while Blake stared out the large window at the view of Atlas, clearly lost in thought.

"Well, Weiss, you see… everything was going fine… well… we were spotted once… but, ah… Blake took care of that… then we made it into the safehouse… and the planning room was destroyed, and there was this guy standing directly in the middle of it and he was completely untouched and he was really really tall and he had red eyes and itwasreallyscaryandBlakeandIcouldn'tmoveandIdidn'tknowwhattodoand-"

"He called himself a god." the black haired faunus spoke for the first time since she and Ruby left the forest. "He called himself 'The God of Nothing'. There was no sign of anyone breaking in before us, all of the guards outside seemed to think that nothing was amiss inside. There shouldn't have been any way he could've gotten into that room. Every instinct I have was telling me that he shouldn't have been there, that he shouldn't exist, and when he walked by us I lost all strength in my body. It was as if… I don't know, but for a second I believed he was a God."

Weiss let out an exasperated sigh, looking carefully at the behavior of her two friends. "I'm sorry, but this was our first solid lead in months, and I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how one man can make two of the best Huntresses in the world lose their cool. I have all the information I need, you two can go wash up and relax for a while and I'll get this stuff sorted out."

Blake and Ruby got up from their seats and started walking towards the door, leaving for their rooms in a nearby hotel that Weiss had reserved for them.

"Weiss, take a break." Yang spoke up from beside her.

"I can't, there's too much going on-"

"Weiss, seriously, slow down for a bit. You're over stressed. You've been having outbursts like that almost daily. Take a break from the Dust Company and focus on your duties as a Huntress for a little bit. The company isn't going to fall apart the moment you look away, and with this new figure in play I'd be a lot more comfortable with all of Team RWBY in the field."

"I suppose you're right," Weiss sighed "what are you going to do?"

"I'm probably going to head over and spend some time with Blake. You should go see Ruby once you're done sorting things out here, I've never seen those two so freaked out over a mission going bad. Maybe we could all go get lunch in a bit, ease some of the tension."

"That sounds like a good idea, just call me once you figure out a plan."

"Can do!" Yang shouted back, waving as she walked out of the office.

Weiss let out another sigh as she slumped on her desk, planting her forehead onto the cold wooden surface. "What the hell is going on?"

* * *

Five men sit in the shadows around a dimly lit table in a smokey room. A tall, lanky, and well dressed young man is the first to speak.

"The White Fang safe house outside of Atlas was raided by a team of Huntresses last night, reports say no survivors."

A stocky man in a black jacket sitting on the right of the first was the next to speak up.

"I can't really say I'm surprised, I never expected a bunch of animals to be able to do any good at guarding the damn place."

"You better watch your tongue, or it might not remain in your mouth much longer." a third man in a black trench coat growled across the table.

"Gentlemen, please, let's try to keep this meeting civil." a man in a white labcoat spoke up from the left of the man in the trench coat. "I believe Mr. Parson has more information to give us."

The two that were arguing growled at each other across the table, before the young business man cleared his throat to continue.

"Continuing on, a scout that I had stationed into the area to monitor the safe house reported seeing a tall, black haired man wearing a black duster leave the building a short time after the Huntresses had entered. This man was not observed as having entered the building at any time in the three months since the safe house was set up."

"You're sure about this?" The fifth man at the table finally spoke up, removing the cigar from his mouth.

"That is what the report said, Mr. Alhest." the young man replied.

"Were any documents taken?" the man in the lab coat inquired.

"Neither the unidentified man nor the two Huntresses were observed to have taken anything from the safehouse. Investigation of the planning room had revealed that everything inside, including the faunus soldiers, had been destroyed by what appears to be an explosion originating in the center of the room. Evidence suggests that this destruction and the appearance of this strange man may be connected, but we cannot investigate it further as the Atlesian Military has secured the area." the young business man explained calmly.

The man in the black trench coat spoke up again, leaning in to the light. He wore a white mask with red markings over his eyes and forehead, and spiky red hair swept backwards.

"What do we know about the huntresses who attacked the safe house?"

* * *

Over many decades of technological advances, holographic images had become a normal part of life in Remnant. They served as signs, banners, and markings strewn across day to day life among the kingdoms. The technology had grown advance enough that holographic greeters became commonplace in many buildings such as communications centers, big businesses, and libraries. Holographic projections, unlike humans and faunus, don't need paychecks, they don't have family to take care of, they don't need lunch breaks in the middle of the day, they don't have mood swings, and they don't need to go home at night to sleep. Holographic projections, outfitted with simple AI and connected to whatever data banks might be needed, fill the menial customer service jobs across Remnant that nobody really wants to do. However, on this chilly winter afternoon, the holographic clerk at the Public Library of Atlas was about to play a simple part in a very significant chain of events. As a tall man in a black duster walked up to the desk, the sensors let the system know that a patron was in need of assistance.

"Hello, welcome to the Public Library of Atlas, home to all the information and literature produced across Remnant in the last five hundred years!" the holographic clerk recited its pre-programmed spiel in its computer generated female voice. "Can I help you find something today?"

"I'm looking for the archives of global events for the past decade." the man in the black duster replied, closely inspecting the holographic clerk with a curious glint in his red eyes.

"I can bring up all of the major news articles from the past ten years on a terminal for you… there! You can browse through the requested information, it should already be up on the first row, fifth terminal down on your right! Feel free to come see me if you need anything else!"

"Thanks." the man waved at the projection as he walked off and sat at the indicated terminal. After browsing for an hour or so through the news archives, he came across something that caught his interest. "The Coalition… and Cinder Fall…" he muttered to himself. He got up and went back to the front desk, the holographic clerk flickering on as he approached.

"Hello again, what can I find for you this time?" it chimed cheerfully in its electronic voice.

"I'd like to see all available information pertaining to Cinder Fall, Roman Torchwick, the White Fang, and 'The Coalition'." he stated.

"Done! All the information you requested should be waiting for you on your terminal!" the clerk chimed back.

"Excellent." the man grinned as he went to continue his research.

* * *

Blake stood in the shower of her hotel room, feeling her muscles relax as the warm water ran down her back. She couldn't shake the unnatural vibe she got from the strange man. The way he stood, the way he talked, how he stated his title of 'God' as if it were a simple fact of the universe, the way his blood red eyes seemed to pierce into her soul… everything about him screamed that he didn't belong in this world, that he belonged in a different universe entirely. The thought made a chill run down her spine. She let out a sigh as her faunus ears picked up the sound of someone entering her apartment. After a few moments, the intruder opened the door to the bathroom.

"I don't want to talk about it Yang." Blake spoke to the blonde haired invader.

"How did you know I-" the blonde was interrupted.

"I can hear you coming from a mile away. You don't exactly put a lot of effort into being sneaky." Blake sighed as she looked up at her partner, now moving with the obvious intent to invade her personal space.

"Well, whether you wanna or not, we're talking about this, kitty cat." Yang stated as she entered the shower and moved close to Blake. "I haven't seen you this shaken up since that time in our second semester at Beacon. I don't like seeing you upset, Blake." Yang embraced Blake from behind, resting her chin on the faunus' shoulder. They stood there silently for a few minutes, letting the warm water from the shower head wash over them, before Blake spoke up again.

"It was like he was from an entirely different universe…"

* * *

Weiss walked briskly down the hallway of the hotel. She couldn't take her mind off her friends' account of the stranger they had encountered on their mission. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't imagine anyone who could cause those two to falter and choke simply by existing. Yang was right, the Schnee Dust Company could operate without her interference for a few months, she had spent the past two years making sure of that. Right now, she needed to focus on her duties as a Huntress. She needed to be there to back up her friends, and her partner, especially if this man is as much of a threat as Ruby seemed to think. She approached the door to her partner's room and knocked, before opening the door.

"Ruby, it's me." Weiss called out as she entered the dark hotel room. Ruby lay face down on her bed in her pajamas, red hair splayed across her back and shoulders. She let out a small grunt before rolling onto her side to acknowledge her visitor.

"What do you need, Weiss?" Ruby's silver eyes watched as her white haired partner walked up and laid down next to her.

"I came to talk. I'm sorry about flipping out on you earlier, I should've let you explain before I jumped to conclusions." the young Schnee whispered as she moved closer and touched foreheads with her partner.

"Thanks, Weiss." Ruby smiled as she rested her head on her partner's chest. They lay there silently for a few minutes before Ruby spoke again. "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." Weiss replied, grinning.

"We should go get something to eat, maybe that new restaurant that opened up downtown. I heard the food is really good, and the owner, I think he's a dog faunus of some sort, always personally asks if his customers enjoyed their visit."

"That sounds like a great idea, Ruby. I'll text Yang and tell her and Blake to meet us outside." Weiss said as she reached for her scroll.

"If they're with each other, you should give them at least an hour for you-know-what." Ruby propped herself up on her elbow, grinning at Weiss.

"Yeah, I know. You need to get cleaned up anyway. I can't have you going out after a mission without taking a shower first." Weiss jokingly scolded Ruby.

"No complaints here." Ruby stood up on the bed and stretched, before hopping over Weiss onto the floor and entering the bathroom.

"She's still such a child." Weiss mused, staring at the ceiling of the hotel room.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Setting Things In Motion**

Life has sucked for the past few years. One could wonder why life sucks so much, but when a bunch of children ruin your evil plans, resulting in you getting sent to a maximum security military operated prison and are forced to wear a straight jacket and sleep on a piece of metal hanging off the wall, it becomes pretty obvious why life sucks.

Cinder had everything. She had looks, she had power, she had evil lackeys and a sizable paycheck from her employers, and the eyes of every person in Remnant were on her. She had everything she could've wanted, and then a bunch of Ozpin's children from Beacon Academy ripped all that down and ruined everything. The Atlesian military took her custody into their own hands, meaning no trial, no bail, and no way for The Coalition to get her out of it. Roman Torchwick, after escaping prison the first time, was captured with her, General Ironwood giving the security of the two extra attention. Torchwick's partner Neo escaped the scene and is still at large, and word has it that Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black are making a name for themselves in the criminal underground. The White Fang was crippled, but managed to hold on after Adam Taurus replaced a member of The Coalition's leadership, his predecessor having died in an "accident" after a series of failures. Cinder sat on her metal bed in her cramped and cold prison cell and wondered what her life would be like if that red hooded brat hadn't gotten in her way. She was snapped out of her thoughts, however, when a voice came from outside her cell.

"You looked a lot better in the pictures on the news." the voice came from an unusually tall man with grayish skin and red eyes. His messy black hair hung down to his waist in back and hung over his eyes in front. He wore a black tank top with baggy black pants and black boots under a black sleeveless high-collared duster. Sheathed on his back was what appeared to be a longsword with the handle wrapped in dark red cloth. He clearly was not one of the guards.

"Can I help you?" Cinder quipped back sarcastically, glaring back at the man.

"Actually, you can." the man replied, causing Cinder to raise an eyebrow. "I'm looking for people with a specific disposition. Yourself, as well as a colleague of yours by the name of Roman Torchwick, both seem to fit this criteria, as well as members of a group you were once associated with." the man paused to let his words sink in. "I have a proposition for you. If you serve me and carry out my will unquestioningly, I will free you from this prison and protect you from the forces that put you here in the first place."

"Look, whoever you are," Cinder began, glaring at the individual outside her cell "that sounds great and all, but I'm not exactly in the business of being an evil minion, and how am I even supposed to trust that you can get me out of here AND prevent me from being brought back in?"

"This is a maximum security detainment center, is it not? Yet I am standing here unobstructed by those whose duty it is to guard this facility. I have created no commotion, raised no alarms, yet I stand before you. That alone should be enough proof of my abilities."

Cinder thought about this for a moment. This was supposed to be a state-of-the-art detention facility. To break in, even for an experienced Huntsman or Huntress, would be nearly impossible, breaking out from within not even being worth considering. Yet there was a strange man who clearly should not have been allowed into the facility standing unnoticed, except for by herself, in front of her cell.

"Let's say I accept your offer," Cinder began, "I can't help you much without the right equipment and resources. My abilities were largely connected to my dust infused clothing, which I obviously do not possess, and much of the power I had relied on the connections I had to the criminal underground which are likely irreparably severed. How exactly am I supposed to be of any use?"

"The minds of mortals are easily corrupted, setting up an infrastructure in the criminal underground will not be an issue. As for your 'dust' infused clothing, I can obtain the materials you would need to recreate and improve upon it as you so desire." the tall man stared inquisitively back at Cinder, clearly awaiting a response.

"One last question." this time, it was the tall man's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Am I being paid for this?"

"Your loyalty will be compensated more than adequately with whatever you may desire."

* * *

"You two are ten minutes late, what took you so long?" Weiss was visibly irritated with her teammates' tardiness. She wore a tight white long sleeved jacket with black accenting with the top few buttons undone, exposing her upper chest and part of the silvery blouse underneath, with a white skirt and white high heeled thigh high boots. Sheathed on her right side was an ornate silver short sword and revolver set.

"Sorry, Blake and I were… uhhh… talking." Yang rattled her mind for an excuse. She wore a brown leather jacket with the collar up over a revealing yellow sports bra with black shorts and brown combat boots, along with her signature aviator sunglasses.

"Right, 'talking'. We're perfectly aware of how you to spend your private time sis." Ruby quipped back at her sister. She had changed into a dark red sleeveless top with a red skirt and black knee high boots. Her hood was down, showing her long, crimson hair, a little bit of it hanging in front of her silver eyes.

"So, where are we eating?" Blake chimed in as an attempt to change the subject. She wore a black zip-up sleeveless vest, unzipped to reveal a bit of her chest, with a short black slit skirt, black high heeled knee high boots, and dark purple stockings, all under a long black jacket. She chose to leave her cat ears exposed after graduating from Beacon instead of leaving them hidden under a bow.

"Ruby suggested that we try out this new restaurant downtown, apparently the food is really good there." Weiss chimed back, clearly caring more about getting food in her stomach than complaining about her friends' tardiness. After all, it was almost 2 in the afternoon.

"Sounds like a plan to me, allons-y!" Yang pumped her fist in the air, marching off and leading the party down the street.

The restaurant, named Edgar's Cuisine, was rather busy for the time of day, but Team RWBY had no trouble finding a table. After ordering their food, the four of them began discussing the events at hand.

"So what are we going to do about all this?" Blake started. "Obviously we have to investigate this stranger that appeared out of nowhere, but we also have to find more leads on The Coalition and the White Fang."

"The Atlesian Intelligence Committee should be able to handle tracking down more leads on The Coalition, so we should probably focus our attention on tracking down this stranger, especially if he could be a threat." Weiss chimed in.

"That sounds like a good idea and all, but all we really know is that he's freakishly tall, has red eyes, black hair, a sword, wears all black, and has a god complex." Yang replied. "We're literally looking for a stereotypical super villain. If we were to ask around, all we'd get is weird looks and no answers."

"We have a name as well." Blake cut in. "He said his name was Kelas Sackrain… or something like that."

"So we're looking for a super villain named Kelas." Yang slumped back in her chair, deciding to pet Blake's cat ears.

"If you ask me, someone like that would stick out like a sore thumb." Weiss chimed back. "If I saw someone like that walking around I'd have a lot of trouble forgetting it."

"Maybe we should call Ozpin." Ruby spoke for the first time since the conversation started. "If we learned one thing about him while we were at Beacon, it's that he has connections in every major organisation in Remnant. If we talk to him, we could get an all points bulletin put out on the guy and maybe get an idea of where to start looking."

"That sounds like a great idea." Weiss chimed back. "What do you two think?"

Yang simply gave a thumbs up with her free hand, having been distracting a purring Blake for the past couple of minutes with her other.

* * *

Cinder, now happily back in her usual outfit, marched briskly through the slums on the outskirts of Atlas, her new employer in tow. They didn't have much choice in transportation for the moment, as the trick that the unusual man had used to get them out of the prison only works if he knows where he's going, so Cinder had to guide them through the streets and alleyways to get them to their destination.

"Keep up the pace or we'll attract too much attention." she ordered back at the man following her.

"Don't worry about it, we won't be noticed." the man calmly replied.

"Sorry but we're not exactly the most inconspicuous pair of criminals at the moment." she shot back, irritated by the lack of a sense of urgency in her follower.

"That's why I've put up a perception filter." the man replied, as calmly as before.

Cinder stopped, turned on her heel and looked the man towering over her straight in the eye. "If I'm going to be able to get anything done, I can't put up with any games you play with your subordinates, now what the fuck is a perception filter and why should I care?"

"A perception filter quite literally filters the perceptions of those around us. As far as all the people here are concerned, we are two ordinary people of no consequence walking down the street. They hardly even notice that we are standing here, let alone what we look like." the tall man stated matter-of-factually.

Cinder sighed, turned back around and continued on towards the pair's destination, but at a slightly slower pace. She felt, just for a moment, that there was something terribly amiss with the man's presence.

* * *

A young brown haired business man sits in his office looking out over Atlas. His chair is made with the finest leather, his desk of the finest wood, his floor of the finest marble, his decorations of the finest gold and silver, his suit of the finest silk. In his right hand he holds a glass made of the finest crystal, and in it is the finest wine. On his left hand, around his middle finger is a ring made from the finest platinum and seated in it is the finest emerald. He is a king, his company is his kingdom, The Coalition his right hand. The only thing that he does not have is the finest bride. He looks longingly out across the city of Atlas, eyes locked on a skyscraper emblazoned with the logo of the Schnee Dust Company. The communications panel on his desk rings, crying out for attention and interrupting his thoughts. He turns himself towards his desk and answers the needy device.

"What is it?" he asks the panel in a bored tone.

The electronic device relays a female voice, "Uhhm, a Doctor Nacht Zichermann is requesting to see you sir, should-"

"Send him in." the young king interrupts.

"Right away, sir." the com panel spits back before retreating into its alcove in the desk.

The doors open and a tall man with messy gray haired dressed in a lab coat and wearing rimless rectangular glasses steps in.

"Mr. Greene Parson, how kind of you to see me right away! I know you're such a busy-" the doctor was cut off.

"What did I say about private meetings between the members? If any of us are exposed, it would implicate the other as well." the young man shot back with a glare. "So, explain to me why you've come to my office in the middle of the day."

"Well, you see, there's been an interesting little piece of gossip floating around the Atlesian government." the scientist planted his hands on his colleague's desk and leaned forward, locking eyes. "Word has it that Mr. Torchwick and Ms. Fall were found missing from their prison cells last night." the scientist's grin widens. "Apparently, there was no record of anyone entering or leaving their cell block between the last patrol that saw them there and the one that found them missing, and no sign of a break in or break out. Just _vanished_ into thin air." the scientist stands up and slumps back into one of the chairs meant for visitors. "I just don't know what to think about all of that. Do you think it could have something to do with the mysterious man from the White Fang safe house?"

The young business man sighs, unable to contain his interest with the rumor brought to his attention. "A strange man shows up at a secure safe house, though his presence there should be impossible. The next day, two notorious prisoners vanish from the most secure prison in Remnant. A strange coincidence indeed." the man looks up at the scientist who is still grinning wildly. "Gather all the information you can about both incidents and put out a notice for everyone to keep an eye out for this man, as well as Torchwick and Cinder. My guess is that if the two events are connected, the strange man is quite possibly going to find his way to us."

"Wonderful!" the scientist exclaims, jumping up from his chair and doing a spin before slamming his hands back on the other man's desk. "I'll get to that right away boss!" the scientist turns around and starts marching for the door, before getting stopped by the younger man.

"One more thing, what does that statue look like to you?" he asks, gesturing towards a gold statue on the far side of the room.

"Well what is is supposed to be?" the scientist asks, moving closer to inspect the figure.

"The auctioneer said it's supposed to be a big cat of some sort." the young man responds.

"What, like a puma?"

"Yea, that must be it."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Investigation**

Having been wonderfully satisfied with their lunch, Team RWBY left the restaurant and began walking down the streets of downtown Atlas until they came to a plaza with plenty of open space and a large decorative fountain at the center.

"This looks as good a place as any to call Ozpin." Yang piped up. "Ruby, would you do the honors?"

"You got it, sis!" Ruby chimed back, opening her scroll and selecting Professor Ozpin's entry in her contact list. After a short time, the call was answered, Ozpin's face appearing on the screen.

"Ahhh, Ruby Rose! It's been too long. How did your mission with Ms. Belladonna go?" Ozpin greeted with a smile upon seeing who was calling him.

"Uhhh, yeah, about that…" Ruby began hesitantly, "it was a complete failure. I, uhh, we actually called you for help finding the reason that it was a failure."

"The reason?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"There was a strange man there." Blake spoke into Ruby's scroll. "There was no possible way he could've gotten there, and his presence resulted in the destruction of any information being kept at the safe house. When Ruby and I encountered him, his simply being there caused us to… well…" Blake trailed off, still a bit embarrassed at her failure.

"I see. He must be rather dangerous if he caused two of the best Huntresses in Remnant to lose their nerve. What can you tell me about this man?"

Weiss was the one to chime in this time, "From what Blake and Ruby could tell us, he's about nine feet tall, probably an inch or two less, has long black hair, blood red eyes, grayish skin, wears pretty much all black, and carries a sword on his back. He said his name was Kelas and stated that he was titled 'The God of Nothing'. He should stand out in pretty much any situation, but he just as easily could've gone into hiding."

Ozpin's brow furrowed, clearly concerned with the appearance of this person. "I'll make sure Glynda gets this information distributed as top priority immediately. In the mean time, you might try checking with the Atlesian Intelligence Committee. I heard they picked up strange readings from the area of your mission, and have recently picked up similar readings from the Military Detention Center shortly before the disappearance of Cinder Fall and Roman Torchwick from their cells just this morning."

"WHAT?!" the four girls shouted in unison. Two of the biggest criminals in the history of Remnant, whom the team of then Huntresses in training had fought so hard to bring down, were now missing from the most secure prison in Remnant, coinciding with the sudden appearance of a strange man that clearly was out of place. This could not be good.

Ruby sighed, "Thanks for the help, Professor Ozpin!" Ruby chirped at her scroll. "We'll head over there right away."

"Good luck girls," Ozpin replied, "and be careful." he said the last part with a tone of importance.

Ruby put away her scroll before Weiss began to lead the group in the direction of the Atlesian Intelligence Committee. Yang piped up with a thought.

"Hey, didn't Drake and Ikari get recruited into the AIC after graduation?"

"I think they did." Weiss replied. "We should call them now, let them know we're on our way."

"Already on it." Blake stated.

* * *

Cinder entered the musky bar briskly, the tall man behind her having to duck slightly to make it through the doorway. She scanned the room before locking on to a table in the back corner of the bar, at which an orange haired man in a black suit and bowler hat, and an extremely short pink-and-brown haired woman were seated. Cinder walked up to the table and sat down, the orange haired man being the first to speak.

"It's about time you two showed up, we've been waiting here let me tell you this place is a bit of a dump." the man complained, causing the short woman next to him to roll her eyes. "Cinder, you remember my associate, Neo, right?" gesturing to the short woman, who gave a half-assed wave of acknowledgement.

"Of course I do, Roman." Cinder replied in a casual tone. "How could I forget?"

Neo glared at Cinder before tapping Roman's shoulder and gesturing towards the red eyed man that stood at nearly twice her own height.

"Ah, right. Neo, this is our new employer, Mr. Kelas Sekarian." Roman said, having somehow overlooked the presence of the dark giant among the group. "For the time being, we will be receiving our orders, and our paychecks, from him."

"A pleasure." the giant said, bowing formally to the dwarf before taking his seat at the table. "Now, to get straight to business, we are going to need a base of operations somewhere private. I leave the location and means of acquisition at your discretion, but public meetings like this won't suffice as anyone who has purposefully honed their senses could easily resist the effects of my perception filter. Also, it would be a good idea to set up a front for our operation as a source of steady income in order to obtain any material resources we might require, that also being a task I leave to your discretion." the man explained in an authoritative manner.

Cinder spoke up first, "I can get a front for our operation set up, as well as secure some lackeys to take care of the more trivial tasks."

"Excellent!" Roman chimed in sarcastically. "While the manipulative bitch takes care of that stuff…" this earned an irritated growl from Cinder "...we can secure a means of transportation for ourselves and any cargo we may wish to requisition. There is a prototype stealth VTOL craft stationed at a high security Atlesian military base, but I'm sure someone of your caliber…" gesturing towards the dark haired man across the table "... would have no problem getting us in there and out with the vehicle without much trouble. As we are doing that, Neo here should have no trouble finding us a suitable venue from which we can plan our future nefarious deeds."

"Then it's settled." the tall man stated. "Everyone knows their roles. Take the day to prepare, we move at sundown." the man got up, turned towards the door, and left the bar.

"This is going to be quite the ride." Roman mused, watching the man leave.

"Keep your mouth shut and it might not end with you as a pile of ash." Cinder shot at the orange haired criminal, before standing up and exiting.

"Quite the ride indeed…"

* * *

Five men sit in the shadows around a table in a smoky, dimly lit room. A young business man in a black fine tailored suit was the first to speak.

"What do we know about the activities of Cinder Fall, Roman Torchwick, and this new player who has joined the fray?"

The cigar smoking man known as Mr. Alhest spoke up. "One of my guys said they showed up at a dive in Atlas, called the Blood Gulch Blues Club, along with that mysterious fellow." he coughed before continuing "The guy couldn't remember much, like it was as if they weren't there even though they clearly were, but he said it sounded like they were laying down plans for their own little operation." he finished by taking another puff from his cigar.

"Interesting…" the young businessman contemplated this new information. "Dr. Zichermann, what has your research turned up?"

"That statue of yours was most definitely an artistic rendition of a puma, done in solid gold!" the madman in the lab coat stated enthusiastically.

The young man covered his face with his hand in annoyance and let out a groan before asking again. "What did you find out about the escape of our old colleagues?"

"That, of course! How could I forget!" the scientist seemed to switch between mania and cold calmness on a daily basis, though both sides were equally psychotic. "My informant in the AIC said that strange readings had been reported around the time of Ms. Fall's and Mr. Torchwick's disappearances. Similar readings were picked up from the area of the now ransacked White Fang safe house the day that it was raided!"

"That was yesterday you dipshit." the masked man in the black trench coat growled at the scientist.

"Right, well, still quite the coincidence, don't you think? The same readings taken around this strange and fascinating man's appearance show up the next morning at the disappearance of our former colleagues, only to be seen later the same day together in a bar?" the scientist stood, waving his arms wildly in the air, before slamming his hands onto the table and leaning in towards the center. "Sounds like a _scandal_ to me." he whispered, grinning maniacally.

"This is a definitely a matter worth more investigation. I expect each of you to conduct independent investigations into these events. We will reconvene at the same time tomorrow, and will continue to meet nightly until this matter is resolved." the young man grinned for the first time that anyone else in the room could remember. "Good luck, and godspeed to you all."

* * *

Team RWBY approached the headquarters of the Atlesian Intelligence Committee as the sun was setting, finding two figures waiting for them at the entrance. Leaning on one of the supports of the building was a girl with waist-length black hair worn as a ponytail. She wore a black and red accented outfit comprised of a two layered jacket, the second layer extending almost to the ankles in back, over a red pleated skirt with matching thigh high leggings and short boots and matching detached sleeves covering the backs of her hands. She had her eyes closed, clearly focused on the metal music blasting out of her headphones audible from a couple feet away. Sitting on the ground a few feet away from her was a blond haired man wearing a trenchcoat over a dark purple t-shirt with gray cargo pants and a pair of blue tinted sunglasses. Inside his coat and the pockets of his pants were an array of gadgets, the purpose of some being fairly obvious, others for more mysterious purposes.

The blond man looked up at the approaching group before speaking. "I was hoping I'd never have to see you four again, but I can't exactly say no to a mission." he shouted sarcastically.

"As much as I'd like to avoid you Drake, we kinda need your help." Yang shouted back, playing along with the sarcasm.

"Yo, Ikari, eyes up. We've got company." Drake shouted to his comrade, flicking a pebble at her arm. This caused the black haired girl's eyes to snap open, sending a glare in the man's direction before noticing that Team RWBY had arrived.

Taking off her headphones, she addressed the group of new arrivals. "Long time, no see. How's it going?"

Weiss was the one to respond. "We're actually here for some very specific information, Blake may have told you about it when we called you." the two intelligence agents nodded in unison. "We need information about the readings taken surrounding Blake and Ruby's mission yesterday, as well as the disappearance of Cinder Fall and Roman Torchwick this morning. Ozpin should've sent our authorization down already."

Drake checked his scroll quick before waving Team RWBY towards the building, "Yeah, you're cleared. Follow me and I can bring that information up for you."

Inside the building, the six Hunters huddled around a large holographic display, showing graphic readouts of satellite readings and various scientific writings on theoretical principles of space and time. Drake spoke up to explain, Ikari having already gone back to her wonderland of heavy metal.

"Lately, scientists across Remnant have been looking into the more theoretical aspects of space and time. Various research instruments have picked up strange energy signatures, unlike anything that has been seen before, far outside our galaxy. Further investigation of the source of these energy signatures have revealed spatial events that seem to defy our understanding of the laws of the universe."

"How does this have anything to do with the information we asked for?" Blake asked.

"Well, we have never seen these kind of energy signatures before anywhere within our galaxy. The strange readings from the area of your mission and around the disappearance of Cinder and Roman were localised and vastly amplified occurrences of that same energy signature. Even in small amounts, this energy is theoretically strong enough to warp space and time. Whatever caused those readings must've literally ripped a hole in reality." Drake said in a very serious tone.

"None of that sounds good, but why was the room in the safe house destroyed, but the prison seemingly untouched." Weiss questioned.

"The readings from the safe house incident were about 500 times stronger than the ones taken from the prison, and the readings fluctuated wildly whereas the prison readings were fairly stable. The working theory is based off of the Multiverse Theory. Think about trying to punch through paper with a plastic knife. From what we've learned, or at least think we've learned, the first incident was like trying to stab through a stack of paper a few dozen sheets thick, The knife isn't going to go through cleanly, nor is the knife itself going to come out unscathed. The second incident was more like trying to cut through one piece of paper that was folded. A lot cleaner, but it leaves two holes instead of one." Drake explained, before the display behind them turned red and started letting off an alarm, startling Ikari. "Looks like someone's trying to punch another hole through space."

* * *

 **Intermission: The Dangers of Interdimensional Travel**

You may think that as a God, Kelas can do anything and everything flawlessly. Interdimensional travel, however, is tricky for even the most omnipotent of beings. Every reality is governed by its own set of rules and conditions, and every reality goes through a variety of changes throughout it's lifespan. Those with the ability to freely and purposefully travel to whatever dimension they desire, a category of which Kelas is NOT a part of, are extremely rare even for universes that are extremely gifted in the area of powerful individuals. Among established means of travelling between realities, a scythe that literally rips a hole in the multiverse is quite crude. This, along with Kelas' simple lack of caring to refine this ability, tends to result in many MANY mistakes along the way. Detailed here will be a few of the dimensions Kelas came across before finding his way to Remnant.

Kelas emerged from his portal in what appeared to be a cloud of matter, only to immediately start plummeting through the cloud. After only a couple of seconds, his freefall reversed course entirely before flinging him off to what was at that moment, only then to change directions at a 116 degree angle from his course towards some direction in front of him. After half an hour of random freefalling, he finally got fed up, freezing himself in place and opening a portal out of the infernal dimension.

Kelas appeared in what appeared to be an ocean of bioluminescent fluid. Unsure of which direction gravity would pull him in this dimension, he erased all matter within 20 meters of himself, only to find himself stationary as the fluid rushed in from all sides to fill the void he had created. He decided to move a few miles in a random direction before trying the experiment again, only to achieve the same result. He tried again, this time extending the radius to 20 miles around him which only served to slightly increase the amount of time the fluid took to fill the void. He tried once more, with radius of 20 light years, before realising that the fluid moved faster in relation to how much he erased, causing him to become frustrated and resulting in him erasing the universe altogether before leaving.

The third attempt at finding an interesting playground brought him to a very colorful world that seemed to be inhabited by a race of poorly detailed extremely small multicolored quadrupeds, some of which seemed to have the ability to fly, causing him to turn on his heel and walk back through the rift which he had just exited.

 **-End Intermission**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Hostile Contact**

Kelas and Roman emerged in a forest outside of an AIC military base. Roman, clearly a little bit on edge, spoke up quietly. "I will never get used to that little trick of yours." this earned a slight grin from Kelas as his scythe vanished. "Scythes and I don't exactly have a spotless history either." he continued, before the pair crouched behind a bush just within the treeline. The two could see a pair of guards in front of the gate to the compound.

* * *

Privates Jimson and Henries' jobs were to stand watch over the front gate to a top secret AIC compound. They were the night shift, and as such didn't have a lot to do. This led to Pvt. Jimson asking a fairly unusual question one evening of his guard duty.

"You ever wonder why we're here?" Jimson asked his compatriot of gate protection.

"Well, this is a top secret compound. The brass doesn't want any unauthorised personnel getting in, so they have people guarding the gate. We were the unlucky bastards that got stuck on the night shift." Henries replied.

"Well yea, but I mean why are we _here_ on Remnant? What is our ultimate purpose? Are we actually going to be part of anything important, or are we just a plot device in some grand story-" Jimson's vocalised contemplation was interrupted by his comrade readying his weapon.

"You there, this is a restricted area! Explain yourself or I will fire!" Henries shouted at a man with orange hair in a black suit and bowler hat.

"Now now gentlemen," the suited man started, "I'm simply here on business for General… uhhh…"

Roman's faltering ruse was interrupted by Kelas appearing in front of Jimson. He delivered a swift uppercut with his left hand under the rib cage from a crouched position, audibly shattering the guard's lower ribs, before spikes shot out of his arm into the man's chest, shredding his vital organs. He lifted the now lifeless soldier with his fist, shooting the spikes at the other guard while simultaneously using the first as a bullet sponge for the incoming gunfire. The spikes hit Henries in the forehead, chest, and abdomen, branching out upon penetrating the flesh and killing the guard instantly before dissolving and leaving gaping wounds in the corpse.

"Let's go." Kelas said to Roman before ripping a hole in the steel grated gate and entering.

"I could've salvaged the situation…" Roman mumbled under his breath before following the taller man.

Walking further into the compound, Kelas and Roman found the vehicle they were looking for. Three guards were gathered around the craft, either sitting or leaning on supply crates. The area was lit by a single lantern. Kelas melted into the shadows before appearing in the middle of the group, grabbing the face of the man closest to the VTOL with his left hand, before drawing his sword, cutting the throat of the man standing to his right, switching to a backhanded grip, and impaling the face of the man sitting behind him all in one swift motion, then proceeded to crush the head of the guard whose face he had grabbed and sheathing his sword.

"You really don't waste any time taking care of the resistance, do you?" Roman said, putting his handgun back under his suit jacket, just in case things had gotten out of hand, while carefully eyeing the disintegrating corpses of the two men who had been killed by the tall man's blade.

"I'm assuming you know how to pilot this vehicle?" Kelas asked, looking back over his shoulder at his suited minion.

"Assuming that the controls, like the body seems to be, are based off of your standard Bullhead, I shouldn't have a problem flying it." Roman said, moving to enter the flying vehicle.

"Good, because we've got company." Kelas shot back, looking at six figures gathered a couple dozen yards away.

* * *

"Is that him?" Ikari asked, crouched and ready to strike with the Zweihänder sheathed on her back.

"Yea, it looks like it." Blake replied, scanning the scene with her faunus night vision before locking with the glowing red eyes glaring back at her from a couple dozen yards away. "Definitely him."

"Then let's drop them before they get away with the stealth prototype." Drake said dropping to a crouch, lining up a shot with the opposition's head, and firing in an instant with his railgun only to see the tracer fly off into the distance behind his target. "How did that miss? I had the shot lined up perfectly!"

"You sure about that? It looks like you missed by a mile there, deadshot." Yang taunted, deploying Ember Celica and getting ready to rush into combat.

"Doesn't matter now!" Ruby shouted. "Ikari, Yang, you two rush in and set him off balance! Blake, Weiss, you follow them in and strike him while he's open! Drake and I can lay support fire down from here!" Ruby crouched into a firing position next to Drake as Ikari and Yang shot off towards the tall man at full speed, followed shortly by Blake and Weiss.

* * *

Kelas hadn't expected this universe to have any projectile weapons capable of such a high velocity, but avoiding the electrically charged slugs was still a simple matter for him. What he needed to focus on now were the four fighters headed his way, and the doubled long range firepower now bearing down on him.

He lifted his left arm in front of himself, fist pointed towards the sky, and from the same material he had killed the two guards at the gate with he formed a towering shield in front of himself, woven together from black tendrils emerging from his arm. The blonde brawler was the first to reach him, propelled forward by the weapons attached to her fists. Her right fist slammed into the black shield, releasing an explosion, while shots fired from the two snipers impacted the shield at full speed. The combined force of the attack didn't phase Kelas, however the concrete beneath him began to crack from the force.

The dark haired woman with the bastard sword was next to strike, bringing her sword down from above the moment her blonde comrade jumped away. Kelas swiftly turned to his left and took a step back, grabbing the woman's wrists with his right hand and using her own momentum to throw her a few dozen yards down the airfield.

The white haired woman closing in with a blazing short sword was next in line, whom Kelas met with a backhanded strike with his shield, continuing his spin and sending her hurtling into a nearby stack of crates. He tilted his head to his left to avoid another pair of projectiles from the twin snipers, drawing his sword with his right hand to counter the black haired faunus girl coming his way.

She flickered from sight, reappearing behind him and readying a spinning blow with her twin blades only to feel the bite of a blade across her back. Realizing that her attack had been predicted, she blinked back at a high angle attempting to get in the tall man's blind spot as Yang came back in for a combo, only to find her opponent had kept spinning and parried Yang's punch out of the way with his sword, his now unshielded left hand hammering into her side, shattering a few ribs and causing her to slam into the vehicle next to them.

Ikari began to close in from behind Kelas, her zweihänder now split into two energised swords, as Ruby transformed her weapon into a scythe and propelling herself towards the dark figure with it's recoil. Drake, following suit, holstered his railgun on his back and detached the rails as electrified rapiers and shooting off towards their opponent.

Yang, being the only one close enough to fight at the moment, was blasting away at Kelas with her fists, only to have every single attack blocked, dodged, or parried flawlessly. She kept stepping up the pace and varying the attack pattern, but her opponent adapted his defense just as swiftly, until Yang heard a click when she punched. Realising she needed to reload, and that Weiss was ready to step in, she backflipped out of the fight, avoiding a horizontal slash in the process.

Weiss stepped in, clashing her silver dust infused sword with Kelas' jet black blade repeatedly, working in quick shots with the dust revolver in her right hand only to have each one skillfully dodged each time. Ikari, being the first to close back in after having been thrown, readied a scissoring slash with her twin blades. Weiss fired a shot from her revolver, intending to force her opponent to dodge into her teammate's attack, only to have him do a backflip over Ikari's swords, sheathing his sword and slamming the two girls' heads together before throwing them both away from himself.

By this point, Ruby had closed in. She used the recoil of her weapon to perform a spinning sweep towards Kelas, which was avoided with a jump. Following through behind Ruby came Drake, slashing horizontally at Kelas whom avoided the attack by ducking under it, only to find the electricity arcing off the blade had singed his head in the process. Drake continued his dual bladed assault rapidly, Kelas only narrowly avoiding each strike resulting in cuts along his duster, numerous superficial burns, and a few lost hairs.

Ruby rejoined the assault, Kelas finding the flurry of blades and gunshots harder to avoid than before. Kelas grabbed Ruby's scythe and threw the girl and her weapon towards Drake, Ruby recovering by digging the blade into the ground as Drake dodged and thrust one of his rapiers in Kelas' face, narrowly missing an eye. Yang, seeing that her two comrades had their opponent occupied, grabbed the unconscious forms of Ikari and Weiss and moved them over by the stealth prototype, where Blake sat holding her side in agony.

Drake and Ruby's endless high speed assault continued on, each attack coming closer and closer to being a hit. As Kelas went in for a jab at Drake's face, he noticed a slight distortion around his target before Drake juked out of the way and slashed towards Kelas' abdomen. Noticing this, Kelas caught Drake's blade as he swung, ducking another slash from Ruby's scythe before pulling Drake in and kneeing him in the chest, following it up with a roundhouse kick to the head that sent Drake flying to the side. Ruby tried to follow up with a downward strike before Kelas could turn towards her, only for him to dodge to the side and force her scythe's blade deep into the concrete followed by a punch straight to the face that caused her to do a backflip.

As Yang watched Ruby's now unconscious body hit the pavement, the engines of the VTOL roared to life, forcing Yang to move herself and her three friends out of the way. Drake, somehow still conscious, signaled towards Yang to attack, readying his own blades once more. Yang walked up next to Drake, readying her twin gauntlets for one last assault.

"I'm going to attack first. The moment I break off, you move in and give him everything you've got!" Drake shouted at the blonde over the roar of the engines, receiving a nod in confirmation. With that, Drake rushed in, swinging his blades in a wild combo, narrowly missing each strike before blocking a kick and focusing as Yang rushed in. Kelas' eyes widened as everything except for his two opponents slowed down. Unable to block or avoid, he took a direct 20 hit combo from Yang's gauntlets before time returned to normal and he was sent rocketing backwards across the airfield. He recovered, digging into the pavement in a kneel with the black tendrils digging in from his left arm and leaving a sizeable gash about 20 feet long in the concrete.

Recovering from the beating that had just been dished out to him, Kelas stood and focused his energy, the black material encasing his left arm and hardening around it. He shot forward at blinding speed, leaving a crater in his wake and stopped between Drake and Yang with equal force before slamming his left fist into the ground below him. The impact sent out a shockwave that knocked the pair of Hunters off their feet and caused the ground below them to collapse entirely. Kelas jumped away from the carnage he had created, landing in the hull of the VTOL that was now taking off, as Yang and Drake fell into a ten foot pit of dirt and rubble.

"You put on quite a show there." Roman shouted from the cockpit of the craft.

"You took your sweet time getting this thing off the ground." Kelas shot back, entering the cockpit and sitting in the co-pilot's seat.

"This shit's more complicated than it looks, alright? From what I've seen though, you could've taken all of them out quickly and quietly, so why drag it out and leave them alive on top of that?" Roman looked at the man sitting next to him, who seemed to barely fit in the cockpit.

"It's more interesting this way." the tall man said, leaning back and closing his eyes.

"You have a strange idea of interesting, my friend." Roman muttered under his breath, returning his focus to flying the prototype aircraft.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Aftermath**

 _Blake stood alone in a dark forest. The trees had all withered and died, the grass and flowers had turned gray and wilted. Dried bones lay strewn across the ground. There is no sound, no movement, even the air sat still as stone. She looked around, the shadows seemed to close in on her. She ran. What she was running from she could not tell, but she ran as fast as she could for as long as she could before stopping to catch her breath. She called out into the forest, but could not hear her own voice. She was plunged into a murky pond. She tried desperately to swim to the surface, but could not reach it. She panicked. The shadows formed a figure in front of her. "Give yourself to me." the shadow hissed. She couldn't hold her breath. She inhaled the murky water. Her vision started to fade…_

Blake shot upright, sweating bullets and hyperventilating. The pain in her chest from her broken ribs and the sting of the gash in her back opening back up snapped her back to reality. She was in a hospital room. It was dark, and moonlight shone through the window. Looking around she could see Drake and Ruby on nearby hospital beds, both covered in bandages. Her other three teammates were nowhere to be found, probably having been discharged sometime earlier. She lay back down, careful not to agitate her wounds further. "What the fuck was that?" she asked herself, unsure of whether or not she should go back to sleep.

* * *

Team RWBY, as well as Drake and Ikari, sit in the hospital awaiting their debriefing. As they're finishing their conversation, General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin enter, followed by Glynda Goodwitch and a young faunus man. He stood about six feet tall and had dark silvery hair, his faunus status being displayed by the grey wolf ears poking out from under his hair. He wore a light gray trench coat featuring blue-silver tribal patterns, worn closed over matching gray suit pants and combat boots. Over his trench coat he wore an armored shoulder pad, a blue-silver cloak featuring an emblem of a wolf's head attached to the lone piece of armor, a longsword with no hilt and a handle wrapped in gray cloth at his side and a blue-silver ornate dagger sheathed behind his back.

Ozpin was the first one to speak up. "I'm glad to see you all alive and well. The General and I are interested to hear about your encounter with this strange man turned out."

"I'm particularly interested in hearing how this man singlehandedly fought off a group of some of the best Hunters in Remnant." Ironwood cut in with a serious tone.

The group of Hunters chose Yang to detail the account of their fight, her having been one of the two to remain conscious through the whole thing, and the only one to make it out without a concussion. As Yang spoke, Glynda recorded her account of the events on a large scroll while Ozpin and Ironwood listened intently. The young faunus man who had entered with Ironwood seemed to be standing watch over the room.

After hearing the summary of the events that had transpired the previous evening, Ozpin sat staring at the floor in thought. Both Ironwood and Glynda looked at him in anticipation.

"As concerning as this man's abilities seem to be, what I am most concerned about are the possible effects of his weapon on those it cuts." Ozpin stated in a serious tone, looking up to make eye contact with Blake. "The two guards who were killed by his blade had disintegrated into a stony dust within the hour. Out of your group, Ms. Belladonna was the only one to be cut by that sword, and so far the same effects have not been observed on her. However, I do find how slow the wound seems to be healing to be a bit of a concern, though that could be because of a depleted aura." Ozpin looked towards Glynda now. "I would recommend that Blake be kept here until her wound closes completely, just to be safe." Glynda nodded in confirmation before leaving to speak with the doctors. "As for the rest of you, I hear the doctors have cleared you to leave, however all except for Yang are expected to take it easy for a while, Drake especially so." The group of Hunters nodded in confirmation before Ozpin, Ironwood, and the young faunus man left the room to discuss what had occurred.

"Well, that was a thing." Yang said, breaking the ice that had formed over the group.

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to fight someone like that?" Ruby pouted, resting her chin in her hands. "Most of the fight we couldn't even touch him, and when we finally did get a solid chance, he shrugged it off like it was nothing."

"There has to be some trick to it." Drake spoke up. "Nobody is simply untouchable. My own semblance, as well as Pyrrha's, can give off that impression, but it's not flawless. There has to be some way we can take him down."

"But what if there is no trick to it?" Blake was the one to speak up this time, visibly upset by the events that had transpired. "What if he really is a God like he said? What if we really have no hope of beating this guy?"

"There's no such things as Gods." Ikari said simply. "He's just another man on a power trip."

"Ikari is right, there has got to be an explanation." Weiss chimed in. "Once we find out what it is, bringing this guy down should be no problem... right?"

* * *

"Well I'd say that went quite nicely." Roman stated, relaxing in his seat in the office of a large warehouse. "Pretty nice place Neo found us, too."

"It'll do nicely." Kelas said, looking out the office window over the expansive building, occupied only by the stolen prototype aircraft. "Plenty of room to build in, while still leaving a lot for storage." Neo smiled at her success, before plopping down into a couch situated in the office. "How is Cinder's end holding up?"

"I think she's securing some muscle to guard the place and keep things in order, as well as looking for leads for our first heist." Roman replied casually. "We're going to need something to turn around for a profit, after all."

"Excellent, and you're certain they won't come looking for us here?" Kelas said, turning to look at the short girl behind him, who nodded in response. "Good. As soon as Cinder returns, we'll discuss our next moves."

* * *

"So, James, what do you make of all this?" Ozpin inquired to the General walking beside him, Glynda and the faunus man in tow.

"I'm concerned Oz." the General replied. "This man singlehandedly took down six trained Hunters and made off with a prototype military aircraft. Whoever this 'Kelas' is, and whatever he wants, he means business. We need to track him down and put a stop to this quickly."

"If I may, General?" the wolf faunus spoke up for the first time that day. Receiving a nod from Ironwood, he continued. "The specific prototype they stole was intended as a transport craft with heavy lift capabilities, meant to get troops and supplies in and out of enemy lines quickly and quietly. If they had intended direct terrorist actions against important targets, they could've stolen one of the more heavily armed craft stationed at that base. From this, I think it's safe to assume that he intends to target supply carriers, the two biggest targets being supplies from the Schnee Dust Company and Parson Ballistic Technologies. If we want to track them down, watching the targets of a possible heist would be the best place to start."

"Very perceptive, Lupa." the General stated. "That sounds like where we should start, wouldn't you agree Oz?"

"I'll make sure to have Hunters keeping an eye on the rail lines." Ozpin replied. "You should assign a small guard detail to each train to keep watch."

"Absolutely." Ironwood confirmed.

* * *

"THEY'RE DOING WHAT?!" the young entrepreneur known as Greene Parson shouted. "Do you realise what this will do to the underground arms trade?!"

The gray haired man in the labcoat, sitting across the young businessman's desk adjusted his glasses. "I am perfectly aware the kind of effect it will have, but we will simply have to make due with… _alternate_ methods of transportation until then. The stunt our new friends pulled last night has General Ironwood on edge, and they seem to think that your arms company will be one of the primary targets."

The businessman ran his hands through his short brown hair, leaning back into his chair. "How are we supposed to uphold all of our clients' orders with such strict security in effect?"

"You could always try convincing the General that you will increase internal security on the shipments adequately, in response to the increased threat." the scientist suggested.

"We don't have the manpower for that." Greene shot back.

"The General doesn't have to know that." the scientist replied, a sly smirk sneaking its way onto his face.

"Okay, and what if our new friends do come after my company's shipments?" the businessman inquired to his colleague.

"So what?" the scientist said relaxing. "Most of the income comes from the illegal arms trade, the transportation end of which is handled by aircraft. If they were to plan a heist, it would be on one of the train lines or cargo ship routes, meaning only the legitimate goods would be stolen."

"That would still hurt the chances of a partnership with the Schnee Dust Company, and as a result make it harder to obtain their CEO as my wife…" the businessman pondered.

"Considering the Schnee Dust Company is the other major possible target, and Ms. Schnee was among the Hunters to face our new friend in battle, I'd say it's a perfectly acceptable risk." the scientist explained, attempting to ease his colleague's concerns.

"I suppose so…"

* * *

Team RWBY, sans Blake, as well as Drake and Ikari were preparing to head home for the night and get some well needed rest. As they headed for the door, Blake grabbed Yang's arm, holding her back for a second.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Blake asked softly.

"Sure, kitten. What's up?" Yang asked, sitting down on the edge of Blake's bed.

"I… this is going to sound silly… but I had the strangest nightmare last night." Blake began. "There was this forest, and I couldn't hear anything, not even my own voice, then I was drowning, and this shadow spoke to me. I don't know what it all means… I'm a bit scared. What if it has something to do with what Ozpin said about that guy's sword?"

"Don't get too worked up over it." Yang advised. "It was a stressful fight, and you got pretty beat up. Some of that stress is bound to get to your head." Yang leaned in and kissed Blake softly, stroking her cat ears in the process. "Try to focus on me, and get some rest tonight." Yang whispered in the faunus girl's ears. "I'm going to do some research, then I'll be back first thing in the morning, okay?"

"Okay…" Blake said weakly, laying down and watching her lover walk out the door. She closed her eyes, letting the sweet embrace of sleep wash over her.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The Heist**

 _Blake sat on the side of a skyscraper, looking towards the ground. A vast city extended off into the distance in all directions, behind her a cloudy gray sky. The world around her began to collapse, chunks of buildings breaking off and falling as the ground collapsed, the sky behind her following suit. She began falling into the void that was now below her, the building on which she sat collapsing with the rest of the world. As she fell into the void, everything froze. The world distorted around her before she found her amidst a war torn plain. Yang's body lay in her arms, her own hands stained with blood. Everything turned gray, Yang's eyes opening into a blood red lifeless stare. "You couldn't save us, Blake." the body of Yang said, before standing up and turning into a shadow. It hissed out another line, as the bodies of her friends were revealed strewn across the plain. "You were too… WEAK!"_

Blake tossed and turned in her hospital bed, whimpering. She shot upright with a scream, tears streaming down her face. Realising she was back in the real world, she slowed her breath down before crying into her hands.

* * *

Operating the primary cargo train for the Schnee Dust Company wasn't such a bad job. Under Weiss Schnee's leadership, many of the company's less-than-fair policies had vanished. Working conditions were much better, for both humans and faunus, and the lines were a lot safer with the White Fang in ruins. So, on this fair morning, this particular moose faunus on this particular cargo train was simply enjoying the sunrise. He was, however, completely oblivious to the aircraft keeping pace just behind the engine of the train, as well as the men exiting the aircraft and planting explosives on the connection between the engine and the rest of the train.

It wasn't until he heard a loud bang that he decided to take a look _behind_ his little cabin in the engine. He poked his head out the window, looking back to find the engine of the train slowly gaining distance on the rest, as well as an orange haired man in a black suit and black sunglasses pointing a black pistol at his head from atop the leading car. Suffice to say, he wasn't able to look much longer.

Roman admired his improving marksmanship as the engine of the train continued off into the distance. He turned around and observed the dozen men he had brought with him as they quite professionally checked each car and eliminated any guards that may have been inside. Aside from the fact that the man whom he worked for was obviously insane, Roman felt that this gig was far better than the one he had previously where he worked under Cinder.

"Alright, let's start getting these cars unloaded. I want every container packed full before noon, so you better get your asses to it!" Roman shouted as the cars slowed to a stop, putting his hat he had been holding in his left hand back on his head and lighting up a cigar. He pulled out a radio communicator, speaking into it. "Train is stopped, engine is en route to fuckingshitupsville on autopilot, ready to transfer the cargo." a fleet of Bullheads carrying cargo containers flying up over the nearby hill shortly after. "What a nice sunrise." Roman said, taking a puff off of his cigar.

* * *

"Blake, calm down, I'm right here." Yang said, concerned at the bawling faunus girl whom she held in her arms. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Blake choked back a sob, before taking a few deep breaths and speaking. "I… I had another nightmare. The world was collapsing, then there was this war zone, and you were dead and so was everyone else and I couldn't protect you and you turned into a shadow and said I was weak and-" Blake started sobbing into Yang's shoulder again, holding her partner tighter than she already was.

"Blake, I'm here. Everyone is alive and well, you don't have to worry." Yang wiped the tears away from Blake's eyes. "What happened in your dream would never happen in reality. You're not weak. You're one of the strongest people I have met, and I'd never let something like that happen to you, to _us_."

"Thanks, Yang." Blake said with a sniffle, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Don't thank me, you're my kitten, it's my job to protect you." Yang said, giving Blake a light punch to the shoulder. "The doctors said you're free to leave whenever you want since your wounds finally healed. Let's get you back to the hotel and get you washed up, we need to meet Ruby and Weiss for lunch to discuss what we're gonna do about Mr. God Complex and company."

Blake nodded, allowing Yang to help her up. After returning to the hotel and getting freshened up (as well as quite a bit more…), Blake and Yang met Ruby and Weiss outside of the hotel.

"You two took your sweet time." Weiss scolded as the pair approached. "We're supposed to meet Drake and Ikari at the restaurant in 20 minutes!"

"They're joining us too?" Blake asked, in a significantly better mood than before.

"Yeah," Ruby spoke up, "they wanted to discuss the data they were able to get from the fight so we can try to figure out a way to fight this guy."

The team of huntresses quickly made their way to the same restaurant they had visited just two days prior. As they entered, they quickly spotted Drake and Ikari, seated at a table with the faunus man that had accompanied General Ironwood to the hospital.

As the four approached, the faunus man stood. "I don't believe I introduced myself the other day at the hospital. I am Commander Lupa Silbermond, head of the Atlesian Intelligence Committee. I serve mostly as General Ironwood's eyes and ears throughout Remnant." he said, bowing respectfully to the four girls, before addressing Weiss directly. "Always a pleasure, Ms. Schnee. I'm afraid I have some… unpleasant news regarding one of your company's cargo trains. Please, sit." he gestured to the four empty seats at the table before calling a waitress over to take the group's orders and handing the waitress a black lien card.

"Before we begin discussing the obvious topic," Lupa started, "I'd like to let you all know that a Schnee Dust Company freight train inbound to Vale was robbed today. The engine of the train was detached from the cargo, and the conductor shot dead, causing it to derail and explode a couple of miles outside the city. A search party was sent out after this happened, but when they found the rest of the train, over three quarters of the cargo had been taken and all of the guards killed. The remaining cargo had been destroyed. We believe the group responsible was the same group led by the man you fought the other day, though there's no way to be sure as they left no evidence that we could trace back to them."

Weiss clenched her fists in anger before speaking up. "You're sure there were _no_ survivors?" to which the faunus intelligence officer nodded.

"As much as I would like to say that we are investigating the matter," Lupa continued, "there really isn't anything there to investigate. It appears to have been a very efficiently planned and professionally executed heist, and we really don't have any leads to work with. On the bright side, due to the fact that the Intelligence Committee's two top agents were present to fight the man known as Kelas Sekarian, we were able to gain a good amount of information about his abilities. Drake, if you would…"

"Of course, sir." Drake started. "You may already know that there has been extensive research into how to effectively measure someone's aura. Since aura is largely based off of the individual to whom it belongs, finding the best way to measure it has proved challenging. In recent years, we have been able to develop a device that effectively measures the strength of a person's aura, a device which I had on me during the battle the other day. The readings we were able to get off of it were rather strange. Kelas' energy differs from our aura in many key aspects, but some elements of it are pretty much the same, which allowed us to get some information on his energy patterns during the fight."

Drake took a moment to let this sink in before continuing. "Throughout most of the fight, Kelas' energy remained around the upper limits of where we would consider possible for aura, registering only slightly stronger than the most powerful readings we have taken from the strongest Hunters. However, when Ruby and I entered the fight, his energy entered a slight upward curve. When I activated the full strength of my semblance to allow Yang an opening to attack, his energy spiked, presumably to allow him to shake off the assault. Now, the disturbing part is that immediately afterward, as he prepared his counterattack, his energy spiked far beyond the range that the device could pick up, before dropping again and leveling off at the uppermost area of the detectable range."

Ruby was the one to speak up first. "Uhhh, what does that mean?"

Drake took a second to form a response. "You know how when you turn on a water faucet, a bit more than usual bursts out before the flow evens off?"

Ruby looked down in thought for a moment before her eyes widened in realisation. "You mean he was holding back his full power, and then at the end he let his power loose for the final attack?"

Drake nodded. "Judging by how great the spike was, after we extrapolated the data of course, the limiter he released wasn't the only one he had."

"So how are we supposed to fight him?" Yang asked, clearly concerned by this news.

"We throw everything we have at him right away, before he has the chance to bring out more of his power." Ikari was the one to speak up this time. "If we hit him with everything before he has a chance to do anything, we can bring him down without him being able to do anything."

"It is for that reason that I am forming a task force meant to combat this new threat." Lupa spoke up again. "I have requested that Professor Ozpin transfer you, Team RWBY, as well as Team JNPR under my command until the situation is resolved. The more people we have focused on this, the better our chances of success, and the leader of JNPR, Jaune Arc, is known to have one of the strongest auras of any Hunter currently available for field work."

"Sweet, we get to see Team JNPR again!" Ruby cheered as the group's food arrived.

* * *

Cinder looked out the office window, the warehouse below now bustling with the activity of their employees moving their newly requisition dust supply about the warehouse floor. She turned around as Roman came through the office door, Neo getting up from her spot on the couch to greet him.

"Looks like you've finally done something with your life, Roman." Cinder mocked.

"Yeah, it's a lot easier to work when I'm not expected to blindly follow seemingly pointless orders." Roman shot back.

"I don't need to explain myself to you. Your job was simply to follow orders, which you did not do very well." Cinder responded, her voice dripping with disdain.

"Why don't you go back to whatever fiery pit to Hell you crawled out of?" Roman asked in the most sincere tone he could muster, taking a seat on the couch next to Neo.

"Because I don't have much of a choice what I do as long as we work for that madman." she said, obviously referring to Kelas.

"You say that as if you're any less crazy." Roman said, glaring at the dark haired woman.

"Did I forget to mention at some point that I have the ability to hear your conversations from the far corner of the warehouse?" Kelas said, walking through the office door and interrupting the conversation the two were having. This earned an irritated growl from Cinder. "Now, as for handling our recent acquisition, I think that keeping 20% of what we were able to take should suffice to supply our own operation, allowing us to sell the other 80% on the black market for a profit."

"Sounds about right." Roman piped in. "Maybe we can get me a halfway decent weapon while where at it. I heard that Parson Ballistic Technologies caters to the criminal underground, and lemme tell ya, their customs are something to behold."

"Ordering an improved arsenal would be wise." Kelas responded. "Feel free to order yourself whatever weapon you desire with the requisitions cut when we order our armory."

* * *

"So, they went after the Schnee freight after all." Greene said, sipping from his glass of wine while enjoying his office view of Atlas.

"If I were to take a guess, it would probably be in order to allow business to be conducted between us and their operation." the gray haired scientist suggested. "Targeting the business not involved in the black market in order to conduct transactions with the business that is seems like a sensible plan."

"True, and the hit to the Schnee Dust Company's stocks would make our partnership proposal a much more tempting offer." mused the young businessman. "Maybe we could even pull off a takeover."

"That would be quite advantageous to both the business and our… secret operation." the scientist agreed, adjusting his glasses. "Quite advantageous indeed."


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: The Life of a Hunter**

 _Blake found herself in a vast expanse of darkness. Her wrists were cuffed together, chains binding them tightly to something far above. Her legs were bound with leather straps, preventing her from standing. Covering her mouth and nose was a muzzle, preventing her from speaking. From out of the shadows walked a reflection of herself. Her mirror image crouched in front of her, a wide grin across her face and eyes sparkling with feral glee. Blake struggled against her bindings, looking for a weakness but finding none. Her mirror self grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to lock eyes with herself. Blake started to panic, beginning to whimper in fear, tears forming in her eyes. Her mirror image leaned in and licked the tears from her face. "You've kept me locked away for far too long." Her mirror imaged hissed. "Now it's your turn to be the one bound and helpless!"_

Blake woke from her nightmare sweating bullets. She patted down her wrists and legs before running her hands across her face, checking for every sign that she was back in reality. Yang stirred in bed next to her.

"What's wrong kitty?" Yang yawned, wrapping her arm around Blake's waist.

"Nothing." Blake replied, lying back down. "Just another nightmare."

* * *

Drake and Ikari walked through the slum district of Atlas. As rich and advanced a city as Atlas was, even it had it's poor district. The pair had their sights set on a local club that was said to be a hotspot for all the criminal gossip of Atlas.

"Explain to me again why we're going to this dump?" Ikari asked for about the sixth time.

"There's a guy there who feeds me all the information that's been floating around on the streets." Drake explained.

"And how the hell does this get approved on the Committee budget?" Ikari asked, though this was a new question.

"It gets approved because Lupa is a genius when it comes to dealing with the bureaucracy. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be allowed half the liberties we have in doing our job." Drake explained.

"So, why did you want me to come along for this?" Ikari asked, this being another old question.

"These places tend not to appreciate Hunters snooping around. Things will be easier if they see there's more than one of us to deal with." Drake explained for the 9th time.

They took a turn down a back alley, approaching a metal door that had a rather large and imposing bald man in a tank top guarding it. The large man motioned for the pair to halt before speaking.

"We don't serve your kind here." the man said in a deep voice.

"Oh, we're not faunus if that's what you're wondering." Ikari said mockingly.

"Hunters." the man began to clarify. "We don't serve Hunters here."

"Awww, come on now." Drake whined sarcastically. "Don't make me go all the way back to headquarters for a warrant. Just let us in and we'll be out of your ha-... uhhh…" Drake cut himself off.

"Can I please just take this guy out so we can get this over with?" Ikari groaned at Drake's lack of negotiating skills.

"Whatever, not like it matters." Drake waved to his partner.

Ikari proceeded to deliver an uppercut under the chin of the tall bouncer, the force of which lifted him off his feet. His unconscious body slumped against the wall of the building. "That's how you negotiate." Ikari said, cracking her knuckles. She looked towards Drake for what to do next.

"Ladies first." Drake said back, waving casually towards the metal door, which Ikari proceeded to unhinge with a single kick. The thumping bass of a rave track rushed out to meet the pair as they entered the club. The pair blatantly ignored the fact that everybody in the club was now staring at them as they walked up to the bar and sat down.

Sitting next to them was a man in a fine tailored black suit. He had jet black hair and emerald green eyes, wearing a black fedora. An Ace of Spades and Queen of Hearts were tucked into the back left side of his hat.

"As classy an entrance as ever, I see." the man said to Drake, taking a sip of his whiskey.

"Glad to find you're keeping sober, Nero." Drake said sarcastically.

"I would ask what you're here for, but the streets have been abuzz about this new player in town. No doubt you want to know about him." Nero stated, getting straight to business.

"You know me so well." Drake taunted back.

"As much as I would love to help out the _wonderful_ Atlesian government, this is one of the few times that you probably know more than I do." Nero paused to take another sip of whiskey and light up a cigarette. "Right now, I'd be more concerned with the fact that the club's owner is coming this way, and he definitely doesn't look happy."

"I don't think anything could possibly concern me more than the amount of firepower you wear on your hat." Drake said. "Ikari, you were wondering why I brought you along?" he said as he stood to face the club's owner. He was being followed by a good dozen goons.

"I was hoping I would get to kick some ass!" Ikari said, drawing her bastard sword from her back. She rushed forward and drop kicked the lead goon, sending him flying back into three of his comrades. Using her sword for leverage, she stopped her fall and flipped backwards before swinging her sword across horizontally, taking out four more of the goons. She split her sword into the twin powered one-handed blades, taking the remaining four goons out with a flurry of spinning blows. The club owner lifted a steel baseball bat, readying a downward strike onto Ikari, but she hit his hands with a high kick, forcing the man to drop the bat, before hopping onto the man's shoulder, spinning 180 degrees, trapping his neck between her legs, and doing a backflip, swinging the man through the air and slamming his head into the concrete floor of the club.

Nero whistled at the scene he had just watched. "Quite the backup you have there." he said, leaning in towards Drake. "Any way I can get her num-"

"No." Ikari stated simply, glaring at the informant as she put her sword away.

"Hey, doesn't hurt to ask, right?" Nero said quickly, raising his hands defensively. "Nice seeing you again, Drake. Come by my bar if you're ever in town."

"Can do." Drake responded. "Let's go Ikari, we're done here."

* * *

Blake and Yang walked through the port district of Atlas, approaching a large, seemingly abandoned warehouse.

"So, why are we here?" Yang asked, giving the dilapidated building a good lookover.

"Back when I was in the White Fang, we kept this place for members who weren't suited for combat. Since it's conveniently in view of the major docking zones for shipping freighters, the members stationed here would gather information on the cargo and routes of outgoing ships, allowing us to easily target the most important ones. I had heard that it had been raided before I left to join Beacon, but it may have been brought back into use sometime over the past few years." Blake explained.

"Guess it's worth a shot." Yang shrugged. "Either there's nobody here and we leave, or there's somebody here and we beat them up for information and leave."

The partners entered through the door of the warehouse. The lights were out, only a small bit of sunlight shone through the windows situated near the roof. Blake scanned the area with her faunus night vision, but couldn't see any sign of recent activity.

"Looks like nobody's home!" Yang shouted into the empty warehouse. She turned around, kicking her heel on the ground. "This is a dead end, le-"

"Yang wait." Blake cut her partner off suddenly. "Stomp on the ground right where you are." Yang stomped. "Did you hear that?"

"I didn't hear anything, Blake." Yang shrugged.

"Here, move." Blake urged, feeling along the ground where Yang was standing. After a couple of seconds of searching, she found a small indent and pulled up on it, revealing a hatch leading underground.

"I love those cute kitty ears of yours." Yang teased her partner. "After you, kitty cat." Yang motioned towards the newly revealed hole in the ground.

Blake stepped into the hole, landing gracefully about ten feet down. She immediately readied Gambol Shroud, scanning the tunnel with her night vision. Yang landed shortly after, with a much more audible thud, rolling forward and readying Ember Celica.

"Sadly, I don't have night vision like yours, Blake." Yang quipped, hardly able to see anything in the murky tunnel. "You got a light?"

"Yeah, give me a second." Blake reached for a pouch under her jacket, pulling out a small fire dust crystal and locking it into a socket on her offhand blade. She focused a bit of her aura on the blade, causing it to light up with flame and serving as a makeshift torch.

The two proceeded cautiously down the hallway. After a few minutes, they found their path forward blocked by a door. Blake nodded to Yang, retracting the main blade of her Gambol Shroud and steadying her aim on her left arm. Yang moved forward and bashed the door down with her shoulder, keeping Ember Celica ready for a fight. She quickly felt something hard come down across her head, causing her to tumble to the floor.

Blake was usually a calm person. Even in the most stressful of situations, she usually kept her cool. However, when she saw the large bear faunus emerge from beside the doorway and bring a chunk of concrete down onto her partner's head, she lost control. Without thinking, her body lunged forward, driving her still burning offhand blade deep into the bear faunus' back. She pushed the blade up along the man's spine, before breaking off and kicking the lifeless corpse down. Next in her sights was a young owl faunus male, who went wide eyed as she fired off half a dozen shots from Gambol Shroud into his head.

A snake faunus tried to blindside her from the right side with a dagger, but Blake reacted by swiftly cutting off the man's arm before shoving the blade up through his skull from below. The next unlucky victim was a young dog faunus charging with a makeshift club. He was met across the eyes with the rampaging Huntress' burning offhand blade, causing him to reel backward and leaving his neck open for a quick three shot burst from Gambol Shroud.

As the chaos settled, Blake spotted a figure at the far end of the room. A doe faunus stood with her back against the wall, shakily pointing a handgun in Blake's direction. " _No._ " Blake shouted at herself mentally, but her body began to move forward, a grin finding its way to her face and a bloodthirsty gleam in her eyes. " _NO._ " she shouted again in her head, forced to watch as her body moved against her will. " _NO! NO! NO!_ " she thought frantically, her semblance activating as the terrified faunus fired. She reappear, shoving the offhand blade under the ribcage of the defenseless woman. " _NO!_ " she screamed mentally as her body moved the gun of Gambol Shroud to the woman's forehead and pulled the trigger.

* * *

"What the hell happened back there?" Yang asked her partner in concern, removing her jacket and tossing it onto the dresser of her hotel room.

"I don't know." Blake said, following suit. "I saw you get hit and I just lost it." Blake's eyes snapped to Yang as her partner stretched and rubbed the back of her head, her tight sports bra and shorts leaving little to the imagination. Blake quickly started getting her boots of, trying to slow down her racing thoughts.

"Well whatever it was," Yang started, bending down to unlace her combat boots and catching Blake's eye again, "we'll keep what happened between us, alright?" Yang finished, kicking her boots off.

Blake hurriedly unzipped her vest and threw it off, leaving herself only in a lacy bra, skirt, and stockings. "Yang, I need you." Blake said, feeling herself starting to lose control again.

"Blake, wha-" Yang was cut off as Blake forcefully shoved her onto the bed of the hotel room.

" _NOW._ " Blake growled at her partner, beginning to nip down Yang's jaw and neck, getting a few gasps as feedback. Yang decided not to argue, and instead indulge her lover's passion hoping it would ease some of the tension she was under. Blake bit down at the base of her partner's neck, getting a combination of a surprised yelp and a pleased moan in response. Blake started kissing down her partner's chest, before quickly removing the pesky piece of fabric that stood in her way, the pair losing themselves to desire for the night.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Changing Faces**

 _Blake stood in a dark room. Faceless bodies were piled across the floor. She looked down and saw her weapons. She looked up, met with the eyes of a doe faunus. She looked back down, her blade was in the doe faunus, her hands covered in blood. Blake stumbled backward in horror. "You murdered me, you animal." The doe faunus spoke in a monotone. Blake suddenly found herself being jerked forward by a chain attached to the collar, her wrists now chained behind her back. She propped herself up to find her mirror image staring back down at her, holding the chain attached to her collar. "Now they'll see you for the animal you truly are!"_

Blake awoke with a start. Realising she was in her hotel room, she caught her breath and lay back down. The details of the previous day were hazy, but she could still see the face of the faunus she had executed in cold blood. Blake curled up, nuzzling into Yang's warm chest, before falling back asleep.

* * *

Ruby and Weiss walked through the streets of downtown Atlas, enjoying the crisp early spring air. They had been taking walks like this every morning through different parts of the city, enjoying the scenery and taking their mind off of the mysterious threat for a few precious hours of the day. Sometimes they had conversations during their walks. Sometimes they never said a word. Sometimes they would pass comments back and forth. This day, though, Ruby had something weighing on her mind.

"How long do you think all of this will take?" Ruby asked Weiss.

"How long what will take?" Weiss asked, unsure about what Ruby meant with her question.

"You know, this whole situation with Kelas and the Coalition and Blake's nightmares and all this crazy stuff?" Ruby stopped to look Weiss in the eye. "When are we going to have time for us, Weiss? Even before all of this crazy stuff started happening I was always busy with missions and you were always busy with the dust company." Ruby looked down at the sidewalk, nervous about her partner's response.

"We'll make time, Ruby." Weiss took Ruby's hands. "The sooner we take care of this situation with Kelas, the sooner we'll be able to have some time to ourselves. Now come on, there's a place just around the corner that has the BEST coffee and cookies." Weiss marched forward, pulling Ruby along with her.

* * *

Cinder smiled, stepping out of the alley way she was hiding in. Her target, the red hooded brat that had ruined her plans five years ago, was just enjoying a morning walked, unarmed and off guard. Just to add icing to her proverbial cake, the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company was with her, in the very same position. Cinder moved to follow the two unsuspecting huntresses, only to run into something that wasn't there the moment before.

"Cinder Fall." the silvery haired wolf faunus who seemed to appear out of nowhere stated. "How predictable, for you to show up here."

"And who might you be?" Cinder asked, taking a few steps back and readying for a fight.

"Commander Lupa Silbermond, at your service." Lupa said tauntingly, bowing to Cinder. "I'm going to be the one hauling you back to prison."

Lupa drew his sword, dodging a fire blast from Cinder and darting in to unleash a flurry of rapid jabs which Cinder countered with small shields of fire. Lupa continued his relentless and expert assault, dancing around Cinder and landing cut after cut on her through her defences. Cinder tried desperately to keep up with his attack, but was forced to a knee when he nicked the back of her leg with a blow. With the point of his blade to Cinder's throat, the Commander claimed victory, having a security team return Cinder Fall to prison.

* * *

"Hey, have you seen Cinder?" Roman asked, entering the office of the warehouse.

"She left." Kelas tossed back casually. "Wanted to fulfill her silly delusions of revenge. The Atlesian Intelligence Committee, or rather it's leader, predicted this move. Now she's back in prison."

"We gonna bust her out?" Roman asked, laying on the couch, with Neo's lap as a pillow.

"No. I offered her protection, she went off on her own and got caught. She's on her own now." Kelas replied.

"Good riddance." Roman said, closing his eyes.

"We need to work on your fighting." Kelas said, turning around.

"In case you haven't noticed, fighting isn't exactly my thing." Roman said, sitting up and looking the taller man in the eye. "I'm more of the type to talk my way out of situations."

"You can't talk your way out of every situation. You ended up in prison because a bunch of students we're better at fighting than you." Kelas said, moving towards the door. "Come on, we'll start with your hand-to-hand combat."

"Don't have to rub it in…" Roman muttered, getting up and exiting the office, Neo following quickly, eager to watch.

Roman and Kelas moved to a part of the warehouse that was void of any equipment. Readying himself into a hand-to-hand stance, Kelas spoke. "Defend yourself." He dashed in, jabbing with his right hand, which Roman easily blocked. Kelas feigned a high kick, Roman falling for the ruse, guarded high before taking a kick to the ribs and being sent tumbling. Roman got up, holding his side in pain.

"I'm not exactly suited towards fighting someone like you." he groaned out.

"For the time being, I'm only going to give you as much of a challenge as a single one of those Hunters would." Kelas stated, crossing his arms. "Can you not use your aura?"

"That's never been my strong suit either." Roman stated pointedly.

Kelas dashed forward again, kicking for Roman's head. Roman ducked just in time and rolled away, before being forced to avoid a follow-up punch towards the rib cage. "You still haven't taught me how to fight, why the hell are you attacking me?" Roman complained, doing his best to dodge and block the incoming blows.

"The quickest way to train reflexes and ability is to put your life on the line." Kelas said as Roman dodged a spear-handed strike towards the throat.

"Wait, you're going to keep this up until it kills me?!" Roman panicked, dodging another kick towards the head.

"Whether or not you die is entirely up to you." Kelas said, throwing a combo of punches at Roman's rib cage. "Make the decision to live at any cost and you will improve. Remove all doubt from your mind. When you enter a fight, don't hope that you'll win, decide that you WILL win. When you strike, don't hope for the hit to land, decide that you WILL hit your target. Only then will victory be within your grasp."

Roman focused, preparing himself for the next wave of attacks. He dodged the initial jab at his face, blocked the kick that followed it, weaved around a flurry of attacks before jumping a leg sweep and landing into a roll out of the way of an elbow strike. This continued for hours, Roman beginning to block and dodge faster and recovering from what he couldn't avoid quicker. A roundhouse kick sped towards the side of Roman's head, Roman lifting his arms to block. The impact lifted him from his feet and threw him across the room. He landed with a roll, quickly regaining his balance and readying himself for the next attack.

"Very good. You've passed." Kelas said, relaxing his stance. "Take 30 minutes to catch your breath, then we'll work on your attacks.

The training dragged on into the night, weapons being brought in and the lessons turning into simple sparring matches. As Roman's abilities improved, Kelas ramped up the difficulty of the fights. The two danced around each other, trading blows at a blinding pace. Every attack Kelas threw at Roman was either blocked or dodged, a counter blow following an instant later each time.

As the two broke away from their melee, Kelas stopped and stretched. "We're done." he stated simply, sitting on a nearby crate.

"Wait, that's it?" Roman asked, confused.

"You held up for an hour straight fighting at double the pace I kept against the Hunters a few nights ago." Kelas stated matter-of-factly. "Even an elite Hunter or two shouldn't be a problem for you."

* * *

Ruby and Weiss walked back to their hotel, enjoying the cool and quiet of the evening in a usually bustling city. As they approached their hotel, Ruby spoke up.

"I really needed today, thank you Weiss." Ruby said, holding Weiss' hands in her own.

"I needed today too, Ruby." Weiss smiled back, leaning in and kissing the red hooded girl.

The pair continued into the hotel and up to their room, Weiss locking the door behind them. The two stripped to their underwear, Ruby lifting Weiss onto the bed and kissing her deeply. Ruby crawled onto Weiss, kissing down her neck before nipping softly. Weiss ran her hands through Ruby's long dark red hair, pulling her into an embrace. The two took turns with their gentle playfulness, slowly growing more passionate. They embraced as their passion grew, spending the night to ease the tension that had been building between them.

* * *

"So, what's our next move?" Roman asked, sipping his coffee and lighting a cigar. He sat on the couch of the warehouse office, Kelas seated in a chair across the table from him.

"I want to learn more about the creatures called 'Grimm' that exist in this world. We might be able to use them to our benefit in some way." Kelas said, opening a flask and pouring a dark red liquid from it down his throat. "Also, I'm running out of blood elixir. I'll either need to either find a way to obtain more or find an alternate method of maintaining my power, and these 'Grimm' could serve as a possible source."

"Wait, you mean to tell me that you can't maintain your powers here?" Roman asked in shock.

"My home is in a space between dimensions." Kelas started. "This space has an abundance of negative energy which is the energy that powers my dark magics. This elixir is made from the blood of Fallen Angels, then fermented in concentrated pools of dark energy. The beings from my universe that rely off of dark energy have the option of drinking this elixir to maintain their power in areas where dark energy is not plentiful. If this elixir is not available, the most common fallback is to feed off of negative energy produced by mortals. Emotions such as fear, hatred, sorrow, jealousy, and greed serve as an excellent source, but are only available in small amounts. To produce the amount of energy required to maintain my power, I would have to create a massive disaster that would consume this entire city, which would set back many of the events I have set in motion."

"And since Grimm are creatures of pure negativity, they could serve as an easy substitute." Roman concluded. "There isn't a way you can get more of this elixir? Like, maybe you could bring some back from your realm?"

"To open a gate directly into The Void from here would upset the balance in this universe irreparably, and unless you have a Fallen Angel or other generic corrupted divine being available there's no way I could synthesize more of the elixir." Kelas explained.

"So, where are we going to find the Grimm you need?" Roman asked, taking another sip of coffee.

"A forest outside your Kingdom of Vale, known as Forever Fall. I've read that Grimm concentrations there are unusually high." Kelas stated.

"That's a ways away." Roman responded. "If we use that dimensional gate of yours, the AIC will track us down and we'll probably be attacked by those Hunters again."

"I'm counting on it. It's about time I checked in on a little experiment that I set in motion." Kelas grinned, earning a raised eyebrow from Roman. "My sword, known as _Miðnætti Brún_ , is a blade forged almost purely from dark energy. The energy oozes from the blade like a poison, corrupting anything it cuts. In those it kills, the energy destroys the body and soul, leaving nothing left of the being slain by it except for a pile of corrupted ash. However, if a victim is not slain, the dark energy infects the wound and seeps into the mind of the victim. In minor beings that are not attuned with arcane energies of any sort, the corruption takes hold in a matter of minutes and enslaves the mind of the victim. In more powerful beings, however, the corruption can take days or weeks to sink in resulting in a much more agonizing transformation."

"Sounds pretty scary." Roman said, gazing off in thought before what the God had said clicked. "Wait, didn't you slash that faunus Huntress across the back?"


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N:** From here on the chapters are going to be longer and the tone a good deal darker. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading and any feedback you have is appreciated! Also, special thanks to Kuro (u/sskirito) and Drake (u/dragonid1423) for proofreading as a write!

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Blood Moon**

Blake lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She had been finding it harder and harder to sleep lately. Between being kept up by the thoughts of the people she had killed the other day, and simply being afraid to sleep due to the nightmares she'd been having, she wholly expected not to find any rest tonight. She sat up, touching the scar that ran across her back. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was all because of the blow she had taken from her new enemy, but since she appeared to be in perfect health there was nothing really to back that assumption up. Blake's scroll beeped, snapping her out of her thoughts. She opened it, answering the call that appeared to be coming from her lover.

"Yang? What's up?" she spoke into the device.

"Blake!" Yang's voice came through, panting for a second. "Meet me outside, he's on the move again!"

* * *

Roman and Kelas emerged from the gate into a forest, the trees covered with red leaves that danced vibrantly in the wind as the sun set. They scanned the area around themselves looking for any signs of life.

"So, how are we supposed to find these Grimm?" Kelas asked, looking around.

"They're attracted to negativity." Roman stated plainly. "Considering we're not exactly the most angelic pair of individuals in the world, this place should be teeming with them in no time."

"How long do you think until our guests arrive?" Kelas looked towards Roman, a sinister gleam in his eyes.

"They should be here in an hour or so. You sure they can't trace the entry gate back to our safehouse?" Roman asked, lighting a cigar.

"I shielded it so that no energy signatures can escape, and I put an illusion over the entire property. As far as Atlesian Intelligence is concerned, our base is just an abandoned warehouse." Kelas replied, sitting on a nearby rock.

Pretty soon, a pack of Beowolves had surrounded the area, stalking the pair of evildoers. Kelas stood, readying for a fight as one of the Grimm lunged at him. He lunged in and punched the creature in the abdomen, black spikes shooting out of his arm and skewering the creature, before tossing the limp corpse of the beast aside.

"These are weak, but they'll do for the research I need." Kelas stated, stretching to loosen his muscles. "I'll send one back to the containment area I prepared, feel free to use as many as you need for warmup."

Roman unholstered a pair of ornate high-caliber handguns and began quickly dispatching the surrounding Beowolves, easily dodging whenever one of the beasts decided to try it's luck at an attack. Kelas, after having thrown a Beowolf through a portal, fired off vollies of black spikes from his arm into the remaining pack, making quick work. After a few waves, the Beowolves retreated as a loud growl was heard from deeper into the forest.

"Sounds like a Deathstalker." Roman stated, reloading his handguns and holstering them at his hips. "I would ask if you can take it, but I think that's pretty much a given at this point."

"Smells like a feast!" Kelas growled, letting out a chuckle and turning his glowing gaze in the direction the Grimm's growl had come from. The Deathstalker burst out of the treeline, eyes looking for it's next prey and it's glowing stinger twitching in anticipation. "Excuse me for a moment, to feed properly I need to release all of the restrictions on my power. It might become significantly harder to breathe for a little while."

The God's smile widened into a manic grin, his red eyes glowing brightly as a smokey black aura began to surround him. His muscles bulged and his joints cracked, having not been under so much pressure in years. His teeth sharpened, increasing the demonic appearance of his grin, as his nails elongated into claws. Shadowy black demonic wings emerged from his back, unfurling and stretching as if they had not been used in years.

The Deathstalker faced down its unholy opponent, its instinctive mind unfazed by the display of power in front of it. What the creature saw was a shining well of negativity off which to feed. The Deathstalker lunged in with its claws in an attempt to immobilize its prey, but the strange being in front of it grabbed its claws and broke off the tips, causing the monster extreme discomfort. Kelas lunged forward, driving the tips of the claws into the eyes of the Deathstalker. The beast retaliated with a thrust from its stinger, only to be grabbed by the tail and flung into the air.

Kelas crouched deeply, wings extending up in the air and tendrils forming a spiked gauntlet around his left arm, before rocketing into the air towards the airborne Deathstalker and slamming a punch into the beast at blistering speeds. The impact from the triple spikes behind the punch demolished the armor of the Deathstalker and left a large opening on its back. Kelas spun over the giant scorpion and sent it hurtling back to the ground, then blasted a bolt of dark energy into the opening on its back, creating a small crater and killing the beast.

Roman stared wide-eyed as Kelas landed on the slain Deathstalker. It took a lot of power to take a Deathstalker out that quickly, but there wasn't a person on Remnant who could toss one around like a ragdoll. He wiped the sweat off of his brow and sat against the base of a tree as Kelas started absorbing the negative energy from the corpse of the once-mighty beast, wondering what exactly he had gotten himself into.

* * *

Roman woke to the sound of a Bullhead flying over, the relentless training of the previous night having worn him out. He looked over to see Kelas finishing his feast of dark energy that used to be a Deathstalker. The tall man called back to Roman.

"They're here." the God said, flexing his muscles. "You hold off the black haired faunus girl and her companion, I'll take on the rest."

"Got it." Roman shouted back, standing from his seat under the tree and walking towards where the aircraft seemed to be landing. He drew his pistols before they flattened, connecting at the base of the grip and extending to form a staff which he leaned on waiting for his challengers to arrive. It only took a few minutes before the six Hunters plus an extra guest burst out of the treeline.

"Roman." Blake growled, narrowing her eyes at the oranged haired man in front of her.

"Well well, if it isn't the lost kitten from the White Fang." Roman taunted, spinning his staff around himself casually. "I've got a score to settle with you, and I've learned a few tricks that ought to even the fight out a bit." he chuckled, grinning at the furious cat girl.

"You guys go ahead and deal with Kelas, this bastard is mine!" Blake shouted to her team, readying her weapons in the process. Everyone else except for Yang bolted off towards the location of their primary target. "Yang, I told you-"

"This guy's gotten a little to cocky for my taste." Yang cut her partner off, winking at the faunus girl in the process. "Plus, you need my backup more than anyone else right now. They'll do fine without me."

Roman chuckled again. "This is good, I was afraid I would only be left with a warm up. Now I can really stretch my muscles after being out of action so long."

The two girls lunged at Roman, going for a joint attack which Roman quickly dodged, quickly parrying the follow-up flurry of blades coming from Blake. He retaliated, swinging his staff up through an opening in Blake's attack, catching her under the chin and lifting her off her feet before withdrawing the staff and firing the far end of the staff, the recoil slamming the weapon into Blake's abdomen and sending her back.

Yang darted in, letting off a flurry of punches and forcing Roman to collapse his staff and trade hand-to-hand combat combined with sneaky shots from his pistols with the fiery blonde. He dodged inside a right hook, stomping on the blonde's left foot to throw off her concentration before striking her across the head with his pistol and kicking her away. He quickly reloaded his weapons before converting the pair of handguns back into staff form.

"Here I was thinking you two would put up more of a fight!" Roman taunted, laughing. "You two seriously call yourselves Huntresses?"

Blake was furious. This man had used faunus to do his bidding for years. He had put thousands of innocent lives at risk multiple times. She had put this man behind bars twice before she had even graduated from Beacon, and here he was again. To top it all off, he was kicking her AND Yang's ass like it was nothing. She was shaking in fury, unable to control her hatred towards the man standing in front of her. She stood, locking a canister of fire dust into her offhand blade, setting the weapon ablaze.

She bolted forward, letting off a blinding flurry of blows which Roman deftly countered. She jumped behind him with her semblance and swung for the back of his neck, only to have her attack batted away and her legs swept from under her with a spinning counter from Roman's staff. She landed with a roll, striking at Roman with an uppercut from her offhand blade which was blocked to the side. The staff continued on towards her head, forcing her to duck and try a stab with her main blade which was dodged. Roman let off a combo of sweeping attacks, using the recoil of the gun parts of his weapon to influence the path of his weapon, each attack being blocked or dodged by the enraged faunus girl. In the middle of a spinning attack, he detached the two parts of the weapon, striking the faunus girl with one of the still extended and flattened pistols in the right knee while she was off guard. Continuing his spin, he came across and struck the girl's left elbow with the weapon in his left hand and forcing her to drop her offhand blade. He brought his right hand up, converting that half of his weapon back into its pistol form and shooting the faunus twice in the right shoulder before kicking her away.

Yang, seeing her cat eared lover go down, roared in anger and rushed at Roman. She let off a blinding combo, grazing the orange haired man a few times. She ducked a swing from his still extended left hand weapon and caught him in the chest with a punch, following it up with a spinning back kick boosted by the recoil from her Ember Celica and launching Roman backwards. She rushed in to deal the finishing blow while he was down, but she was caught off guard when Roman kicked her in the abdomen and flipped her over himself, flipping back onto his feet at the same time. Yang rolled over and tried to get up, only to be forced back down under Roman's boot. He raised the handgun in his right hand and shot Yang twice in each leg and each arm, immobilizing her.

"Not so tough now, are ya blondie?" Roman laughed. "Now you get to watch as I kick the shit out of your little pet kit-" he was cut off as something slammed into him from the side. As he regained focus, he found Blake straddled over him, the faunus holding her still burning offhand blade to the man's neck.

* * *

Lupa was leading the charge of Hunters towards their intended target. He wasn't happy about being down two Huntresses for the fight, but having Torchwick distracted instead of interfering with the main fight was better anyways. They had one shot to bring this guy down, and if someone threw off their attack, they would be screwed. The group emerged from the treeline into the clearing where their target was supposed to be. Looking around, they spotted their enemy relaxing on the branch of a tree on the other side of the clearing.

"I was wondering when you all would show up." the man shouted, hopping down from his tree branch. "I see Roman is checking in on my little experiment. Should make you all a bit easier to deal with."

"Alright guys, we've got one chance. Drake, we're going to need everything you've got to pull this off." Lupa shouted back to the group before being forced to jump back due to his enemy appearing mere inches from his face.

"You're not scheming over here are you?" the God taunted the group. "Scheming is my job, you know, being the evil mastermind and all."

"NOW!" Lupa shouted. Drake's eyes glowed as time seemed to slow for Kelas. The entire group of Hunters drew their weapons. Ruby darted in, spinning around Kelas and slashing him multiple times with Crescent Rose before jumping away and firing it multiple times into his chest. Weiss followed up, engulfing the man in fire, striking him with lightning, and spearing him through with spikes of ice before firing dust charged shots of fire, lightning, and ice at him from her revolver. Ikari was next, slashing her bastard sword Equinox through the God multiple times before splitting the weapon in two and letting off a wild combo, kicking the man to jump away. Drake's turn came up, and he fired off three shots from his Geminus Catalyst before splitting the weapon into it's twin shock saber form and slashing across the center of mass multiple times. Finally, it was Lupa's turn to strike. Four glowing clones of himself appeared around him, all five deploying a snaking blade hidden up his right sleeve. They rushed in, the snake blades dancing around the God and shredding him from all angles before retracting into the sleeves of their owners and firing out at blinding speed through the critical organs of Kelas' body. Lupa jumped back, his clones merging into his position, as he drew his sword. He rushed in and stabbed directly into Kelas' center of mass and causing a shockwave behind the man.

As Drake released his semblance, Kelas was thrown back by the force of the combined assault. He crashed through the treeline, bringing a number of trees down in his wake, before a large explosion was seen in the direction that the God's body had been going.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that." Kelas' voice was heard from a nearby tree limb. "The exploding decoy strategy usually works much better than that." This statement earned more than a few dumbfounded looks before the God disappeared from the branch and appeared in the middle of the group of Hunters. "Now I think its time that I show you what I'm really capable of."

The group was forced to jump away from the God as a twenty foot radius around him erupted in flame. "Where I come from, Magic is a rather universal art." He raised his left hand and fired off a bolt of lightning at Ruby, the girl just barely dodging in mid-air with recoil from her weapon. "A creature's power is decided by their ability to sense and control the energy around them." He stomped on the ground, causing a crater to form beneath where Weiss would land and filling the crater with water. "Elemental Magic makes up the world around us and is the easiest to use and master." He froze the pond that Weiss had fallen into before waving his hand in the direction of Lupa and knocking him off his feet with a powerful gust of wind. "As you can see, Elemental Magic is powerful in its own right. However…" he fired a fireball at Drake who batted the projectile away with his swords. "...there's also Spiritual Magic which makes up every living creature in existence." He appeared behind Ikari and created a pit of quicksand directly beneath her, causing her to quickly sink into the ground. "This Magic is harder to use and master, and its manifestation is decided by the alignment of its user." He charged up a blast of fire and lightning energy and fired it at Ruby, catching her in the side with the unexpected speed of the blast. "This results in White and Black Magic. My alignment should be fairly obvious." He fired another lightning bolt at Drake, the attack being absorbed by the electrified sabers, before stomping on the ground and causing a dome of solid rock to form over Drake. "Though not as wildly destructive as Elemental Magic, Spiritual Magic has a much more pronounced effect on living beings." He surveyed the destruction around him. Weiss was melting her way out of the ice with fire dust, Ruby was nursing her burned side, Drake and Ikari were digging their ways out of piles of rubble and sand respectively, and Lupa was finally making his way back to the battlefield after being blown away.

"Black Magic is split into three arts, Shadow, Blood, and Death, the effects focused on the mind, physical body, and soul respectively." Kelas grinned at his recovering enemies. "An example of mid-range Shadow Magic can be seen afflicting your faunus friend Blake." This statement earned a scowl from Ruby and Weiss. Kelas snapped his fingers, causing a young woman to appear beside him, bound and barely conscious. "To allow you to witness the full effects of the other two disciplines of Black Magic, I present to you a test subject. First I will demonstrate Blood Magic." Kelas held his hand above the woman, a blood red circle containing a 13 pointed star and bearing the writing of an unknown language appearing below. The woman's skin turned red and she screamed as blood was drawn directly out of her body to Kelas' hand. Ruby screamed for him to stop and Weiss looked away in disgust while the rest stared awestruck at the scene in front of them. After a few seconds, the woman slumped over dead, her pale skin showing clearly that every drop of blood had been drained from her body.

"Now that that part is over with, let's get on to Death Magic. This woman is clearly dead, no?" Before Kelas could continue, Lupa rushed in for an attack. Halfway to his target, he clutched his chest in pain and fell, skidding to a halt a couple yards away from his destination. "If you thought that was the extent of what I could do with Blood Magic then you are far more ignorant than I originally thought." Kelas deadpanned. "Now, why don't you just lay there and watch before I decide to make your heart explode." Kelas pointed his left hand towards the dead woman, dark energy flowing out of it and into the corpse. "Now, as I mentioned before, Death Magic focuses on the soul. It can destroy the soul, create a temporary soul, or even bind a soul to an object." The woman's body started rising off the ground, eyes glowing a faint blue. "This includes forcing a soul back into its original body. With the use of Shadow and Blood magic, the resurrected cadaver can be reinforced and controlled to become a nearly unstoppable and completely loyal soldier." The group of Hunters looked on in disgust at what had transpired in front of them. Kelas tapped the standing cadaver, causing it to disintegrate into dust. "Now that I have demonstrated to you some of the endless intricacies of my power, why don't we wrap this up?"

* * *

Roman was running as fast as he could from the seemingly feral cat faunus that was chasing him. He had dropped his weapons when she had blindsided him, but somehow he managed to stall her long enough to figure a way out. He could fight without his weapons, sure, but something had changed about the faunus chasing him. Despite only being able to use one arm, her fighting was faster, stronger, and more aggressive. Her fighting style wasn't as refined either, like she was fighting off of pure instinct. His only focus now was to get back to the clearing without dying. He emerged from the forest into a scene of destruction, Kelas standing in the middle of the field surrounded by his four opponents, each with looks of horror plastered on their faces.

"I could use a little help over here!" Roman shouted, ducking another slash from his enraged pursuer.

Kelas looked back at the scene that had just emerged from the forest. He raised his hand and pointed it towards Blake, causing black chains to materialise and snap around the faunus girl, binding her arms tightly behind her back and preventing her from moving. "Can't have my experiment destroying my colleague, now can I?" This earned a growl from Blake as she tried to struggle against the chains holding her. Part of the chain shot out and connected back to Kelas' hand, retracting into it and dragging Blake towards the God. "I was just telling your friends here about the little experiment I've been running on you. It seems the dark energy has taken root quite nicely." Kelas grinned as the statement seemed to take root in Blake's head. Her eyes widened as the sane part of her mind started working again. She remembered all the nightmares she'd been having as well as the faunus girl she had killed.

"YOU BASTARD!" Ruby shouted, rushing towards the God that had been torturing her friend with Crescent Rose at the ready only to find herself trapped by the same spell Kelas had used to trap Blake.

"I think you seriously underestimate how easy a simple binding spell is to cast for me." Kelas said, rolling his eyes at the foolishness of his opponent. He summoned Roman's weapons onto the ground in front of him and spoke. "Grab your stuff, I'm done here." He looked back towards his other four opponents. "I'll be taking these two for research."

The four Hunters appeared around Kelas. Lupa had his snake blade wrapped around Kelas' neck, with his sword pressed into the God's spine. Drake had his sabers lined up to pierce through Kelas' heart and neck, and Ikari was ready to decapitate the tall man. Weiss had frozen him to the ground with her dust and was ready to burn him down if necessary. Lupa was the one to speak up first. "Make a single move and we kill you before you can even blink."

"You still seriously think you can stop me, let alone kill me?" Kelas laughed. "Even with that time bending trick, you wouldn't stand a chance in Hell." Kelas unleashed a little bit of his energy, black wings emerging and throwing his four assailants backwards. "If you want to stand a chance at defeating me, stop sending your children to try to bring me down. You can't send scouts into battle and expect them to breach the enemy's ramparts. You have to send your soldiers, your cavalry, your machines and artillery. Only then can you bring down the cities of your enemy. If you don't want me in this world, show me everything that you have to stop me." With that declaration Kelas and Roman disappeared, taking Ruby and Blake with them.


	12. Chapter 11 Prologue

**Chapter 11 Prologue: Meanwhile in The Void...**

Five figures sat around a hexagonal table in a dimly lit black palace. The ornate black throne at the head of the table sat empty, its owner not present at this dark meeting. Clockwise of this throne sat a man in jagged black power armor, his medieval-style closed helm featuring a crown of six horns. To his left sat a young looking woman with pale icy skin and icy white hair bound into a french braid wearing an icy blue kimono bearing frost patterns. Directly across from the throne sat a lanky man with unkempt wiry grey hair wearing emerald-accented black robes and a pair of goggles over his emerald eyes. To this man's left sat a gorgeous woman with black hair that faded to blonde at the tips wearing a black and gold corset and skirt under a matching sleeveless tailcoat bearing golden floral patterns. Finally, directly counter clockwise from the throne was an extremely muscular orange skinned man with long spiky black-and-red hair and a long black beard wearing a spiked pauldron on his right shoulder and a chain wrapped around his left arm. This man was the first to speak.

"Katereth, what is the meaning of this meeting?" the demonic man boomed, referring to the armored man on the other side of the empty throne.

"I have received word that our Lord has left this universe in pursuit of entertainment." the armored man stated, his gravelly voice resonating with dark energy. "I called this meeting, Psylgend, to discuss how to handle this situation."

"Is that so?" the dark haired woman leaned forward, resting her arms on the table in front of her. "Do we have any idea where he went?"

"I don't see why this is an issue." the white haired woman replied. "I can understand why Alexia would be worried, being the lost puppy that she is, but Kelas can handle himself just fine."

"You take that back Meldora!" the black haired woman stood, glaring at her smug-looking colleague with golden eyes.

"Ladies, please…" the boney robed man said, clearly not comfortable being caught between the two. "Meldora has a point though. Our Lord can handle himself just fine, and you're a more than capable commander, Katereth."

"I am not doubting our Lord's capabilities, nor do I doubt my own commanding prowess. I do, however, believe that at least one of us should remain with our Lord as an extension of His will during his travels." the armored man stated.

"I'm inclined to agree with Zynetken and Meldora here." Psylgend stated. "I have too much to manage here to be able to go dimension hopping."

"As much as I'd love to go see some exotic new dimensions, I'm going to have to say no to travelling as well." Alexia said, sitting back down.

Zynetken spoke up again. "Well, since Psylgend and Alexia don't want to go, Katereth obviously can't, and Meldora just doesn't care, I guess I'll volunteer to go." the man grinned a toothy grin. "I've been wanting to take a vacation anyway, meet strange new creatures with strange new fears. Plus, I won a bet against this experienced dimension hopper a while ago so finding our Lord shouldn't be a problem. Psylgend knows my department well enough, so you can give him command of them while I'm gone."

"Then it's settled!" Katereth stood and slammed his armored fists on the table. "Zynetken the Mad will assist our Lord Kelas abroad!"

The five strange colleagues stood and left the room, off to do their various duties, while the one known as Zynetken made his preparations to travel.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know it's been a while, so here's something to tide you all over until I can pull further ahead with my writing. I'll probably put Chapter 11 up in a few days.

 **P.S.:** The next chapter is extremely dark and makes heavy use of themes many readers may be uncomfortable with. This is only the first warning, there will be more warnings. There will even be a warning in the Reddit post of chapter 11 once I have it up. I am not responsible for any offense you may take to Chapter 11. It is entirely your choice to read it, and it is entirely your choice what your reaction is. It does contain plot points, however that does not mean I am forcing you in any way to read it. Please do not post reviews or comments complaining, as they will simply be deleted. You have been warned.


	13. Chapter 11

**A/N - THIS IS A WARNING, IF YOU DO NOT HEED IT I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR REACTION TO MY WRITING**

The chapter ahead of you was pulled from the darker side of my creative mind. It contains graphic descriptions of scenes that you may find disturbing, however it is also wholly relevant to the plot of my story. I spent many hours writing this chapter, and I have no intention of making a "toned down" version of it. Reader discretion is strongly advised, and if you do read it you will quite possibly hate me for eternity for what I did in it.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Descend the Shades of Night**

Blake awoke lying on a cold concrete floor. The details of the previous night were hazy, but she could vaguely remember being shot in the shoulder, then watching Yang get shot. Everything past that point was blurred out except for her and Ruby being captured. This she could remember clearly through the feeling of her arms being bound uncomfortably tightly behind her back and the collar digging into her neck. She tried to move but found her legs were bound together as well, the jet black straps of energy not giving in the slightest. She did her best to look around herself, finding that she was in a small concrete cell with one open wall which was blocked by a glowing web of energy. On the other side of that was a hallway and another cell directly across from her's containing what appeared to be an unconscious Ruby, the red girl in the exact same situation as herself. A pair of legs dressed in black suit pants and fancy black shoes moved into her view in the hallway. She rolled back a bit and saw the face of Roman Torchwick staring down at her.

"Well look at you now," the orange haired man taunted, "bound and caged like the animal you are." Blake tried to shout at the man, but no sound came out and she was met with a sharp pain in her neck. "Oh, I should mention that those magical collars don't appreciate it much when you try to speak out of turn. Maybe it will teach you to keep your self righteous mouth shut."

Blake glared at the man standing over her, an evil grin plastered on Roman's face. "I'm looking forward to toying with you, kitty cat. First off, though, I should probably tell the boss that you're awake." With that, Roman turned and walked back down the hallway. Blake struggled helplessly against her bindings once more before tears found their way into her eyes. " _Please just let this be another nightmare._ " she thought to herself, closing her eyes and hoping she'd wake up in her hotel room next to Yang.

* * *

Two figures appeared on the roof of a tall building in Atlas. One was a short young woman with orange hair that hung in her face and nine fox tails who was wearing an orange fox-eared hoodie and simple black shorts with white sneakers, the other a tall and lanky man in black and green robes with goggles and wiry grey hair.

"This should be the right universe." the woman said. "When I bet you that you couldn't find my greatest fear, I didn't expect you'd actually win."

"Even the most hardened of minds fear something." the man lectured. "Even so, to explore such an intricate and exotic mind was a victory in its own right. Do try to avoid gambling against a madman in the future though, games of chance tend to favor the mentally unstable."

"Whatever. I'm not exactly sure where your 'Lord' is, but he shouldn't be too far from here. I have no clue what he wants with this place, but then again it's none of my business." the girl looked around at the surrounding city, not particularly impressed with the level of development of this universe.

The man started walking towards the edge of the building. "Thanks for your help. I should be going before the aardvarks can pinpoint my location. I'm vulnerable without the safety of my tower." he pulled a gadget about the size of a soccer ball teeming with gears and wheels out of his robes and stared intently at it for a second.

"How did you- nevermind. Just try to find your boss while you're still partially lucid." the woman stared in shock at the man in front of her.

"Can do, don't let the Fitchburg Dynasty find out where you've been exploring." the man waved before hopping off of the building. The woman raised an eyebrow at the man's advisement before shaking her head and vanishing from the universe.

The strange device Zynetken was holding was a compass of sorts. He had designed it himself, and it could lead a person to anything within the universe in which they currently existed. He had tried many times to explain how to use the device to others, but to this day he was the only one who knew how to use it. With this strange contraption, he found his way to a seemingly abandoned warehouse in a matter of minutes. He walked up to the door of the building and knocked, waiting a few seconds for a response. When he felt that he wasn't going to get one, he opened the door and walked in only to be met with a rifle barrel in his face.

"Who are you and what business do you have here?" the man holding the gun asked loudly.

"I am Zynetken, an associate of the Dark Lord Kelas." he waited for the gun to be removed from his face. "I presume he didn't mention much about his home universe, but I really must see him immediately." The gun still did not move from its position. Zynetken grabbed the barrel of the weapon and threw it across the warehouse, grabbing the attention of anyone who wasn't already staring in his direction. "Now, if you'll excuse me." He closed the door of the warehouse behind himself before making his way to the stairs up to the warehouse office.

"Yes, of course you can take some time to exact your revenge on them, but I still need them-" Kelas' explanation to Roman was cut off by a man in a black robe entering the office. "Zynetken, what in The Void are you doing here?"

"Katereth insisted that one of us be at your side at all times. I had an itch for exploration, so I volunteered." the thin man stated simply. "Now, what's this I hear about revenge? Do you already have subjects that require persuasion?"

* * *

Yang gritted her teeth while staring at the ceiling of the hospital room. She wasn't supposed to move for at least a week because the bullets that went into her arms and legs were aimed at her bones. She closed her eyes, trying not to think about the position Blake might be in right now.

"I'm going to kill them." she growled out.

"Yang, getting angry right now isn't going to do you any good." Weiss' voice came from the bed next to her.

"I don't care. I'm going to _fucking_ kill them." Yang growled again.

"Yang, seriously, this isn't-" Weiss was cut off.

"How the fuck can you be so calm? Ruby is in the exact same situation as Blake and you aren't upset?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Yang shouted, doing her best not to try to get up to look at her teammate.

"I'm calm because being calm will do the most good for all of us." Weiss lectured. "I know that Ruby and Blake are in trouble. It makes me want to burn this city to the ground thinking about what that bastard might be putting them through, but if I barge in there by myself, let alone with the state I'm in right now, I'm only going to get myself killed instead of saving anyone. The best thing to do _right now_ is to rest and get our strength back, then go in and save them with _everyone_ at our backs. Team JNPR should be here in less than 24 hours and Lupa said that Ironwood was working on freeing up a regiment of troops for when we figure out where Kelas is hiding."

Yang let out a heavy breath and tried to calm herself down. " _Hang in there, Blake. I'll come to get you as soon as my strength is back._ " she thought to herself before General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin entered the room, followed by Lupa, Glynda, Drake, and Ikari.

"I'm sorry to disturb your well needed rest, but we need to discuss what our next moves are." General Ironwood stated. "As you probably already understand, the situation is rather urgent. Lupa, if you would start us off."

"Of course, sir." Lupa cleared his throat. "The Atlesian Intelligence Committee has already mobilized search teams around Remnant, with a focused effort on Atlas as it is suspected that the enemy may be hiding within the city limits due to a slight increase in air traffic in the past couple of weeks. Meanwhile, we'll be devising a way to actually fight Kelas."

Glynda picked up once Lupa was finished. "We're mobilizing every person available to keep an eye on key areas around the kingdoms. Team JNPR should be here by tomorrow morning to assist in our efforts here in Atlas, and Ozpin and myself will be staying to assist as well."

Drake was the next one to speak. "Ikari and I have been investigating for leads on where Kelas' hideout might be, but the way his employees conduct their business is very quiet and professional so we haven't been able to get a solid lead yet."

"What about the trackers we're required to carry when we're on duty?" Weiss asked with a concerned look.

"We stopped receiving a signal from Blake's and Ruby's trackers when they disappeared from Forever Fall." Lupa replied, Weiss' concerned look deepening. "However, the trackers didn't transmit a K.I.A. before we lost the signal, meaning either the signal is being jammed or no longer broadcasting. Either way, both Blake and Ruby are most likely alive."

"With what we know about Kelas, that's arguably worse for them." Ikari stated.

"That is precisely why you all need to rest and recover." Ozpin lectured the younger Hunters. "The sooner you're all back at full strength, the sooner we'll be able to retrieve Blake Belladonna and Ruby Rose." Ozpin looked towards Weiss and Yang. "Weiss was kind enough to reserve the entire top floor as a base for this operation. Most of us involved will be living and working from there for the time being. We'll have another meeting next week once everyone has had time to rest." With that, the group left the room leaving Weiss and Yang alone.

"I'm going to _fucking_ kill them."

* * *

Roman felt a chill run down his spine as he approached the door to the office of the newcomer. " _Somebody REALLY wants me dead._ " he thought before shaking his head and entering the office.

"Kelas said that-" he started before getting interrupted.

"Shhhhhh!" the boney man glared at him with emerald eyes before pointing at the ceiling. "The runes are sleeping. They need a good night's sleep or else they get ornery." he whispered before turning back to the books scattered around his desk. Roman looked at the ceiling to find it covered in the scribblings of an unknown language, the characters glowing faintly.

"Okay…" Roman started, this time in a whisper, "anyway, Kelas said you'd be directing the 'research' on our guests." Kelas entered the room behind Roman. "Is he crazy or something?" Roman asked, still whispering.

"Yea he is. Also occasionally schizophrenic." Kelas whispered back. "The runes, however, are very much alive, and you _do not_ want to make them angry."

"You're fucking with me, right?" Roman asked, earning a slow head shake from the God standing behind him.

The crazy man grabbed one of the books from his desk as well as what appeared to be a small stick before walking out the door and waving to the other two to follow them. "Come, we have work to do and the runes mustn't be disturbed. They keep the Dolphin Imperial scum at bay."

"What do the runes _actually_ do?" Roman asked as the three walked down the hallway.

"I've long since learned not to question what Zyn does." Kelas stated. "Nothing he does on his spare time interferes with what I need him to do, so I just assume it's useful in some way and leave it be. Those particular runes make a very annoying noise if you wake them up, so it's best to not disturb them."

The three continued down the hallway until they came to a shadowy wall of energy. Kelas whispered a few strange words, causing the wall to fade and let them pass before re materialising behind them. The hallway in front of them was lined with small concrete cells. The group walked down to the end, stopping at the final two cells which were blocked by a web-shaped magic barrier. The grey haired scientist peered into the room on the left, taking his time to inspect what was within.

"Ohhhh, what a nice specimen you've managed to retrieve. Mostly human, some animalistic traits, capable of using magic, very spirited, and obviously strong willed considering the traces of your sword's magic I'm seeing around her." the man observed. "Also, I see you're making use of that binding charm I developed." he grinned and crouched closer to the faunus girl trapped within. "Try your best not to scream during my experiments, dear. Those collars don't appreciate people talking in their ears and they don't understand that causing pain only makes the people they're on make louder noises."

The madman turned towards the other cell, inspecting the inhabitant with the same interest as the first. "This one is completely human, slightly younger than the first, also able to use magic, strong willed, and a childish personality. Faking that you're unconscious won't work, my dear. My job is to know people's minds, I can tell a lie from the truth with 100% accuracy unless the liar is 100% certain that the lie is the truth." Ruby sat up and glared at the man, sticking her tongue out in defiance before looking away.

"Let's start with the cat eared one." Zynetken stated, turning and walking back down the hallway. "I've never had such a unique chance of experimenting with a mortal that has resisted Miðnætti Brún's influence before. How exciting!"

Kelas placed his hand on the barrier in front of Blake's cell, causing it to dissipate. He reached down and picked up Blake, slinging her over his shoulder. Blake tried to protest, but was met once again with a sharp pain in her neck. She looked up and saw Ruby, in her cell behind them, looking back at Blake worriedly.

The group crossed the main hallway again, continuing on to a single door at the end of the hallway. They entered into a dimly lit concrete room that appeared to be a perfect cube, various charms, runes, and seals littering the walls, ceiling, and floor of the room. Kelas tossed Blake into the center of the room, the girl having to stifle back a yelp to keep from triggering the collar. Kelas waved his hand, releasing the binding around Blake's arms and legs before her arms were snapped back together in front of her and pulled towards the ceiling, lifting her until only her toes could touch the ground. It wasn't until now that Blake realised her jacket had been confiscated along with her weapons. She glared at her captors, wanting to protest but not wanting to incur the wrath of the collar around her neck.

"Hmmm…" the goggled man stroked his chin for a second before speaking. "I'm going to put your collar to sleep so you can speak, then I'm going to ask a few questions. I need you to respond honestly, and there will be punishment for resistance." the madman pointed his stick at the collar, causing it to loosen slightly. "Now, what is your name?"

"Fuck. You." Blake spat.

"I'll let that one go." Zynetken sighed. "What is your name?"

"Go fuck yourself. I'm not telling you anyth-" Blake was cut off with a zap to the side from Zynetken's wand. The pain was excruciating, forcing every muscle in Blake's body to tighten in reaction. After about a minute the pain subsided, Blake taking a moment to catch her breath.

"That was only a hundredth of the intensity that this wand is capable of. If you wish to maintain your sanity, I suggest that you cooperate for the warm-up questions at least." her torturer said in a flat tone. Kelas and Roman were leaning against the wall in front of her, the latter with a large grin on his face. "Now that you've had a taste of the 'punishment', why don't you tell me your name?"

"Blake." Blake stated quietly.

"Full name." the man specified.

"Blake Belladonna." Blake said glaring at the man in front of her.

"Good, good. Now, where is the AIC Surveillance Headquarters?" Zynetken said. He was met with silence. "Yeah, didn't expect you to answer that one so easily. Let's test your pain tolerance." Zynetken waved his wand, tightening the collar around Blake's neck. "If you couldn't tell, that was the collar waking back up. If you make noise, it will get angry and hurt you." he zapped Blake in the side again, the girl trying as hard as she can not to cry out in pain. "Good, that was one step up from the previous one. The next is going to be five times worse." he zapped her again before the pain from the first had even subsided, forcing Blake to choke back a scream of agony. The excruciating pain forced tears into her eyes, the girl doing her best not to make any noise. "Impressive. That level of pain pushes most mortals to their limit, yet you have the strength to hold back your cries of pain. However, I can't stop until you've made some noise. Let's double the intensity."

Blake couldn't help crying out this time. Her vision blanked out, her mind completely absorbed by the agony. She felt like someone had stabbed a burning hot spike straight into her side, twisted it, then left it in there to burn her. She couldn't even feel the feedback from her collar. After what seemed like hours the pain subsided. She hung limply by her bound wrists, letting out the occasional whimper from the lingering stinging sensation and receiving a response from her collar to remind her that she shouldn't make noise. She looked up at her torturer, her vision still swimming from the pain. She could tell that he was grinning, pleased with the response he had received.

"Looks like that's about your limit." he chuckled. "You may have actually lost consciousness there for a minute."

Kelas moved behind Blake, eyes glued to the limp and sweaty figure that hung in the center of the room. "Simply exquisite." he said, grinning and wrapping his hand around her neck, applying just enough pressure to restrict her breathing. "Just one short test and you've already broken her spirit." he waited until Blake was essentially begging for air before letting go. "Release the collar, let's try asking that question again."

"Someone like you hardly needs such trivial information, but if you insist." Zynetken waved his wand, the collar relaxing once more. "Where is the AIC Surveillance Headquarters?" Blake shook her head, still not willing to answer. Zynetken looked at Kelas with a raised eyebrow, seeking instruction.

"Step it back a level and sustain the spell." Kelas stated. "She can have relief once she answers."

Zynetken raised his wand and fired a sustained burst of the spell into Blake's abdomen, the girl crying out and writhing in pain. After a few minutes, Kelas motioned for Zynetken to stop.

"Are you ready to talk yet?" Kelas asked, Blake shaking her head in response. "Okay then. Zyn, step it back up and do the same thing. I'll make sure she stays conscious." Blake's eyes widened, genuinely afraid of what was about to happen. She couldn't give away secret information to the enemy, but to go through a sustained bout of that kind of pain was worse than death, and if Kelas had the ability to keep her conscious through that kind of pain she would only have to endure worse afterward.

"Wait!" she cried as Zynetken raised his wand. "Its…" she hesitated, still reluctant to say. "It's outside of Atlas, stationed under the observatory…" she looked down in shame, instantly regretting giving up information that could put hundreds of lives at risk.

"Very good." Kelas said, tightening his hand around Blake's neck again and leaning in next to her ear. "I think you'll prove an excellent research subject." He let go, causing Blake to gasp for air again, tears forming in her eyes. "Roman, you can have your fun for a while, Zyn and I need to discuss how to proceed with the more invasive research. Just try to make sure she remains conscious." The two immortals left the room, Neo entering before the door swung shut.

"You want in on this too?" Roman inquired to his short companion. Neo raised an eyebrow at Roman, glancing at Blake then back at Roman. "Heh, I guess the best way to get at blondie is to torture her partner, isn't it?" Roman walked up to Blake, looking over the bound faunus carefully. He leaned in, taking Blake's chin in his right hand and letting his left trail down to where she had been zapped during the earlier torture session. He grinned and applied some pressure, earning a whimper from Blake, the spot obviously still sore from the spell. "Neo, come hit her right here." Roman said, pointing to the sore spot and moving his hand around Blake's neck, turning her head away. Neo jabbed her umbrella in as hard as she could, forcing a cry of agony from Blake which made Neo grin. Neo drew the sword from her umbrella and raised an eyebrow at Roman who nodded in response. Neo slowly slid the tip of blade into the exposed skin of Blake's side, the faunus girl crying in pain, before twisting it a few times and pulling the blade out and licking some of the blood off.

Roman chuckled at his partner's cruelty before retrieving a butterfly knife from the pocket of his suit jacket and spinning it a few times to open it. He ran the blade down the side of Blake's face, watching the blood drip down from the shallow cut. "This is going to be fun… for me." Roman taunted before shoving the knife into Blake's abdomen, eliciting a cry of pain in response. "No witty comeback? No violent insult? Have they really already broken you?" Roman wrenched the knife out, earning another cry of pain from the girl.

"You'll pay… Yang will make you pay.." Blake managed to choke out, nearly sobbing.

"Your friends can't save you now. Consider this payback for sending me to prison twice." Roman lit a cigar and took a nice long puff off of it before jamming the lit end into the cut he had just made, causing Blake to scream in pain. "And boy, am I going to make every second worth it." he ground the cigar in a bit more before tossing it on the ground and sticking a finger into the cut Neo had made, digging around and listening to the screams of pain coming from the faunus girl. He moved around behind Blake, taking Neo's umbrella and bracing his victim's body against his own. He pressed the tip of the umbrella into the space where Blake's rib cage parted to force the air out of her lungs and holding it there. Blake struggled against Roman, the sensation of being unable to expand her lungs and bring in air sending her mind into a panic mode. After a few more seconds, Roman released the hold, Blake gasping for breath as her lungs were given room to work once again.

Stepping back, Roman noticed what looked like a button on the back of Blake's collar. He pressed it out of curiosity, and grinned as the collar dug in around Blake's neck once again. He walked around back in front of the girl, looking her over again. Neo raised an eyebrow out of curiosity before Roman spoke. "Let's take a little break and… play a game." His grin widened. "I'm going to do some things to you that you probably won't like, but all you have to do to get me to stop is say 'Stop'." Roman moved closer, earning a worried look from Blake. "Shaking your head or mouthing the word doesn't count, you have to _say_ it out loud." Roman reached for the zipper of Blake's vest, drawing it down slowly as the faunus girl struggled. Blake's eyes widened, panicking about her situation. The shock the collar gave just for speaking normally was enough to snuff out any words she was trying to say, and if she put the effort in to force anything out the pain that resulted was tremendous.

Roman chuckled as the zipper reached its end, Blake's vest popping open and revealing a lot more than Blake would like, her lacy bra not hiding a whole lot from her torturers. Neo walked up and took her umbrella back, striking the wound on Blake's side with it causing the Huntress to yelp in pain and jerk back from the blow. Neo smiled in amusement as she eyed Blake's exposed chest deviously. Roman stepped back, motioning for Neo to have her turn, Neo gladly accepting as she hooked her fingers under the waistline of Blake's skirt and tugging down slowly while maintaining eye contact with her helpless victim. She grinned as the skirt slid off of Blake's body, revealing a set of panties that matched the faunus girl's bra. Neo strutted around her plaything, running her hand down Blake's leg as she moved behind her, brushing her hand in between her captive's legs and eliciting a surprised gasp from the faunus. Blake tried to choke out the word "stop", but the response from the collar choked back the word before it even started. Neo drew her sword once again, moving it up towards Blake's breasts to cut away the skimpy piece of fabric that held them.

"STOP!" Blake screamed, yelping in pain at the feedback from her collar. Neo frowned, not having been able to cut away her captive's underwear, sheathing her sword and walking away to rest against a nearby wall.

"See, now that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Roman teased, grinning at the girl who was barely holding back from sobbing. He drew the butterfly knife again, shoving it under Blake's rib cage and watching the girl bite back her cries of pain. "This time, the good guys don't win. There's no happily-ever-after. This is my… no, _our_ time. This is when all the bad guys get their payback, and you can't do anything to stop us." Roman twisted the knife out before lighting his lighter and jamming it into the wound, forcing Blake to whimper in pain and eliciting feedback from her collar. "Now you know what it feels like to be on the losing team."

"I see you're enjoying yourself." Kelas said, entering the torture chamber once again, followed by Zynetken. "I wasn't sure if you were capable of such violence. I'm glad to see that you are, we'll need that later."

"Just showing our little kitty cat here that payback can be a real bitch." Roman replied, lighting a cigar with his still bloody lighter.

"Now, on to business." Zynetken cut in, readying his wand and a small clear crystal. "Ms. Belladonna, I'm going to need to extract a teensy piece of your soul for research purposes. I wish I could say it's a painless process… actually, no, I'm quite delighted that it's so painful, but the process will be about 50 times more painful than anything I have put you through so far."

Blake's eyes widened as she struggled again against her bindings, not wanting to endure the torture her captors had planned.

"It's also required that you remain conscious through the entire process… well, that's a lie, we'll be keeping you conscious purely for our own entertainment. Everyone has to take the time to enjoy their job from time to time after all." Zynetken laughed wildly as Kelas moved behind Blake and cast a charm to keep her conscious.

Zynetken didn't give any warning that he was starting. Blake wasn't given a chance to brace herself for the pain that hit her like a freight train, not that she could. Her mind instantly snapped to the point of unconsciousness, only to be jerked straight back to reality and forced to face what was happening. Once the pain actually registered in her mind she let out a blood curtling scream of agony, experiencing the feeling of literally having a piece of her soul torn out. The world looked to be on fire, all sound drowned out by the white noise her mind was generating out of instinct. Every nerve in her body burned with agony from what she was being forced to endure. The ten seconds that the process took seemed to last for days for Blake.

Once it finally ended, Blake couldn't feel anything. She was numb, every muscle in her body being spent. The only thing she could still feel was the burning in her throat from her vocal chords being torn apart in her scream of agony. After a few more seconds, Kelas released the spell and let Blake's consciousness slip away into darkness.

* * *

Ruby awoke to the sound of a scream echoing down the hallway. After a couple seconds of listening to the noise, she blanched in realisation of who it was coming from. She panicked, looking for any means of escape she could, not wanting to comprehend what could make a person scream like that. She futilely threw herself against the barrier of her cell but could only do so a few times off of what little energy she had left. All she could do was wait until her captors brought Blake back to her cell to get any idea of what was transpiring. Nearly ten minutes later, the evil entourage returned, tossing a beat up and unconscious Blake back into her cell. Ruby looked worriedly at the wounds covering Blake's body, as well as at the fact that her teammate's vest was left unzipped, before looking up at her captors.

"It's about time we did some research on this one." the mad scientist said as Kelas undid the barrier to Ruby's cell and picked the red girl up.

Ruby was brought to the cubic room where Blake had been tortured, wrists being bound above her and dragged up until only her toes could touch the ground.

"Let's get straight to the point." Zynetken said. "What is your name?"

Ruby felt her collar loosen, signifying that she could answer. "What did you do to Blake?" This earned Ruby a zap in the side, causing her to yelp.

"I'm the one asking questions. What is your name girl?" Zynetken hissed at Ruby.

"Screw you, I'm not say-" Ruby was cut off by another zap to the side, this one more intense and forcing a louder cry of pain from Ruby as a result..

"I'm not here to play games, girl. I'm sure you heard your friend's screams, and rest assured I can put you through much worse should I deem it necessary." the madman lectured. "Now, tell me your name and then we can get on to the interesting stuff."

Ruby stuck her tongue out, still not willing to cooperate. Zynetken zapped the girl, this time extending the duration, letting up after about a minute then raising an eyebrow.

"Ruby Rose." Ruby squeaked out. "That's all you're going to get out of me."

"Thats perfectly fine." Kelas said, malice dripping from his voice as he wrapped his hand around Ruby's neck and squeezed tightly. "From here on it's all for entertainment and science."

Ruby grasped for air, her mind kicking into panic mode at the realisation that there was no way out of this, that she was ultimately going to have to endure what Blake had gone through. Zynetken raised his wand again and fired another spell into Ruby's side, any scream that would come out silenced by the man that was currently choking her. Kelas let go as Zynetken let up on his spell, Ruby gasping for air and sobbing.

"Why… why are you doing this?" Ruby choked out, her defiance starting to fail against the onslaught of her captors' sadism.

Kelas grinned. "We need to research how your powers react under stress, not to mention the entertainment value of torture." He walked around in front of Ruby. "Now, let's dig into that almost pristine mind of yours."

Ruby awoke in a vast green forest, the sun shining directly above in the pristine blue sky. She felt at peace, the forest having an odd comforting effect until she noticed one miniscule detail. She looked around, looking closely at the leaves and grass and clouds. Nothing was moving. There was no wind, no creatures, nothing was alive. She plucked a leaf from the tree and flicked it, but instead of slowly falling to the ground like it should, the leaf seemed to remain suspended in mid-air. Ruby decided to walk into the forest, shouting out in search of anyone that might be there. As she forged ahead, she noticed the forest getting more and more dense. She decided that it was a bad idea to go anywhere too shadowy, so she did a 180 and walked back the way she came, but the forest only continued to grow more dense.

Ruby was a smart girl, so she decided to test what was going on. She picked a tree and walked in a circle around it, observing as the forest passing by her view appeared to grow even more dense as she walked. She moved closer to her tree so that her shoulder was touching, closed her eyes, and stuck her other arm out. She walked around the tree, not breaking or adjusting her position, three more times, stopping as her hand made contact with something on her third time around. She looked to her left, now face to face with a tree that was no more than arm's length away. Looking around, she saw that all of the trees were no further apart than the two she was standing next to, as well as the fact that it was almost pitch black due to the sun not being able to pierce the canopy.

Ruby pressed her back to the tree she had been walking around, not willing to take her eyes off the tree in front of her. She caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye, head snapping to the left, her hand instinctively reaching to her back for Crescent Rose but finding the weapon absent. She gulped, scanning around herself carefully. She saw something move off to her side again, head snapping in the direction of the movement only to have her attention caught by the tree in front of her. An ashen and featureless face was emerging from the trunk of the tree in front of her. She screamed and tried to run only to find that the tree she had been leaning against had wrapped itself around her, securing her solidly in place. The figure continued to emerge from the tree in front of her, revealing long bony arms with hands ending in clawed fingers reaching towards her. A hole opened in the center of where the creature's face should've been, Ruby screaming loudly as she was swallowed up by darkness.

Ruby stood in what to looked to be a destroyed city. She stood in the middle of a large road, derelict buildings lining either side of the road and a pristine white figure standing a few hundred feet away.

"Ruby!" the figure called out, waving and running towards her. The voice belonged to Weiss, but when Ruby tried to wave and call back nothing happened. Her body wouldn't move, no noise would come out of her mouth.

"Ruby, it's me!" Weiss called out. Ruby tried again, but she only stood there like a statue. Ruby saw a shadowy specter rise from the ground behind Weiss, half a dozen more emerging from the destroyed buildings shortly after. Ruby tried to warn Weiss, but could only watch as the first specter slashed the white girl across the back, Weiss tripping and falling from the blow. Weiss got up, watching as the specters danced through the air around her.

"Ruby! Ruby, help me!" Weiss screamed as the specters each raised a clawed hand, the claws extending and impaling Weiss from every direction, Ruby forced to watch in horror as her partner was murdered in front of her. One of the specters flew up to Ruby, it's featureless face in clear view as it touched her in the forehead with a clawed finger before disappearing into shadows along with its ghostly comrades.

Ruby felt control return to her body, dashing off immediately to catch her partner before she could hit the ground. "Ruby…" the dying body of Weiss wheezed out, "why didn't you save me?" Ruby tried to respond, unable to through her sobs. "Why didn't you save me?" Weiss whispered one last time before her breathing stopped. Ruby screamed, not being able to bear her partner dying in her arms.

Ruby looked up to find herself in an expanse of darkness, tears still streaming down her cheeks but her lover missing from her arms. In front of her floated one of the specters, it's featureless face trained on her own.

" _So strong… yet so fragile…_ " a whispering voice resonated throughout the expanse. " _The mortal heart… such an easy tool to manipulate._ " Ruby closed her eyes, not wanting to endure this nightmare anymore.

"Ruby." a vaguely familiar voice called out. "Ruby Rose. It's alright now, you're safe." The voice was soft and warm. Ruby opened her eyes to find a woman in a red cloak standing in front of her. She looked up, staring at the woman's long red hair and silver eyes. "You're safe now, Ruby. You don't have to be afraid anymore."

Tears welled up in Ruby's eyes, unable to hold back the flood of emotion that was hitting her. "M-m-m… Mom?" Ruby choked out through her tears.

"Yes, Ruby, it's me." The woman said softly. "I'm here, it's all over now."

"B-b-b-but how? Y-you…" Ruby's tears we're coming faster now.

"It's alright, Ruby." The woman moved closer to Ruby. "I'm here now, you don't have to be afraid."

Ruby lunged in and hugged the woman tightly, weeping openly into her mother's shoulder. Everything about the woman, from the sound of her voice to the scent of her perfume, was exactly as Ruby remembered it. Ruby didn't know whether to cry or cheer in joy. Ruby hugged her mother tighter, eyes snapping open in shock when she felt a warm liquid coming from the woman's back. She recoiled in horror, looking down at her own red-stained hands, then back up at her mother who was now bleeding profusely from a hole in her abdomen.

"What's wrong, Ruby? Did I say something wrong? I'm here now, sweetie, please tell me what's wrong?" the woman approached Ruby, trying to embrace the terrified girl.

"N-n-no, you're n-not real." Ruby stumbled back, losing her grasp on her sanity. "You're not real, you died, you left me. You're not real, none of this is real! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!" Ruby screamed, dropping into a fetal position and blacking out.

Ruby awoke with a scream of terror, looking straight at the grinning face of Kelas, his blood red eyes leveled off with her silver ones. "Y-you…" Ruby burst into tears, no longer able to control herself. "Please, no more…" she choked out in between sobs.

"We're not even close to the end yet." Kelas chuckled loudly, moving towards the exit of the room. "I've had a wonderful idea of what we can do next, so don't go anywhere." he exited the room, leaving Ruby alone with her tears.

* * *

Blake awoke to the shock of icy cold water being splashed in her face. She noticed immediately that she was back in her cell, arms bound tightly behind her again. She looked across to Ruby's cell, finding it empty before looking up at her captor.

"I'm afraid I'll need the other part of you to continue my _experiments_." Kelas said maliciously. "You're welcome to watch while I work, or rather you'll be forced to watch as you torture your friend against your will. Let's not keep her waiting now." Kelas picked up Blake, hauling her back to the torture chamber where Ruby still hung by her wrists, face soaked with tears. Kelas snapped his fingers in front of Blake's face before setting her down. "Who's will do you serve?" Kelas asked simply.

"No, I won't…" Blake growled in defiance as she felt her control slipping away.

"You serve the will of The Darkness. You will obey." Kelas stated as if it were a fact.

"No…" Blake choked out as the last bit of control she had slipped away. After a moment of silence, the girl that used to be Blake looked up at her new master, the look in her eyes tainted with a feral gleam. "What is your will, my master?"

Kelas grinned and pointed to the red haired girl suspended in the center of the room. "You are to cause her pain, without mercy but without killing her." The hopeless silver eyes of one huntress met the feral amber eyes of the other. "You will continue until I tell you to stop, anything else is at your discretion. Understood?" He waved his hand, the bindings around Blake dissipating.

"Yes, master." Blake stood, taking her dust-enhanced offhand blade which was handed to her by Kelas, flames shimmering to life around the blade.

Ruby's eyes widened as her friend approached. "B-Blake, what are you doing?" The faunus girl grinned, not slowing her approach. "Blake, you don't have to do this, please!" Blake slashed the blade across Ruby's side, the burning weapon causing Ruby to scream and tear up once again. "Blake, please! Snap out of it, you don't have to this! Please, Blake!" The faunus tore a piece of Ruby's top away from her back, pressing the flat of the flaming blade behind Ruby's shoulder. Ruby screamed from the pain, tears flowing down her face faster than ever.

" _I'm so sorry, Ruby._ " was all Blake could think as she was forced to watch herself torture her friend and leader. Blake removed the blade from Ruby's shoulder before jabbing it into the girl's unwounded flank from behind, leaving the blade in to sear the flesh before twisting it and ripping it out to prevent any cauterization. She ran the tip of the blade down Ruby's spine, only leaving a shallow cut but drawing it down slowly to extend the pain. Walking back around Ruby, Blake grabbed the girl's face, holding her blade up to it and letting the flames singe the pale flesh before pressing the flat of the blade against the base of the girl's neck and grinning at the scream she earned.

The possessed faunus girl chuckled, moving the blade to the collar of Ruby's top, cutting through slowly and letting the tip of her blade graze through Ruby's skin. "Please… no." Ruby managed to choke out between sobs, but Blake only grinned and slowly started pushing the blade into Ruby's chest. She pulled the blade out, brushing the flat of the burning weapon over Ruby's now exposed breasts, grinning wider with every shriek of pain she got from the younger girl. Blake brought the blade up to her leader's neck, drawing a shallow cut all the way around before leaning in and tasting the blood which dripped from the wound. She backed off to admire her handiwork, looking over the sobbing girl carefully before Zynetken returned to the room.

"That's enough." Kelas said, rematerializing the bindings as Blake returned to his side before letting her out of the trance. "Is it ready?"

"Is it ready?" Zynetken echoed. "Of course it's ready, why would I be here if it wasn't ready?"

"Then let's get started." Kelas said, moving behind Ruby and casting a charm to keep her conscious. Blake tried to protest for her partner's sake but found her voice silenced once again by her collar.

Ruby hadn't felt anywhere near that much pain. Even though her body, heart, and mind had been relentlessly tortured the entire night, all of that felt like child's play once her captors began their latest activity. Suddenly she knew what had caused her friend to scream so loudly, and she couldn't help but do the same. Ten seconds later it was over, Ruby left sobbing uncontrollably and Blake curled in the corner trying not to think about what was happening. Kelas let go of his charm and let Ruby slip into unconsciousness before casting a spell to knock Blake out and returning the two girls to their cells.

* * *

Kelas stretched, leaning against the wall of his underling's underground office. "Two pristine soul samples and a night's worth of exquisite torture? Reminds me of when we still had interesting things to do back home." He started walking to the door. "Let me know when you've finished analyzing those, I have plans to formulate."

"Yes, yes." The scientist said, hardly paying attention. "Go play with your mortals while I do my research. Things run smoother that way."

Kelas exited the room, walking down the long hallway, sparing a single glance down the intersecting hall where his captives' cells lay, before continuing up the stairs and back into the warehouse.

* * *

 **A/N:** Chapter postings are probably going to slow down after this as what I've posted catches up to what I've written due to school and life. Thank you for reading and please review!


	14. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: This Means War**

Weiss practically stormed down the hallway of the hotel. Despite the fact that Yang had managed to calm down at least a little bit, the stress was getting to the Schnee CEO and it was showing. The dark circles beneath her blue eyes told of how little sleep she was getting. It had been almost two weeks since Kelas disappeared with Ruby and Blake, two weeks full of that bastard doing God knows what with her partner and friend. She marched onward, unable to concentrate on anything other than the horrible situation her teammates were in, until she was snapped out of her trance by Yang's voice behind her.

"Weiss," the blonde called out, "you passed the door."

"I knew that." the embarrassed girl shot back before turning on her heel and pushing through the large double doors blocking the way to their destination. Inside was a large rectangular room setup for planning and intelligence. A large digital map of Remnant took up the entire wall on her left, and a large holographic planning table was set in the middle. All across the other walls were local maps, details of recent events, pictures of Ruby and Blake, as well as of Kelas, Roman, and Cinder Fall. There was a number of people bustling around the room, mostly Atlesian intelligence agents and soldiers, except for the group huddled around the table in the middle. In this group stood Ozpin, Glynda, Ironwood, Lupa, Drake, Ikari, and Team JNPR, who had arrived the day after their previous encounter with Kelas.

Jaune was the first to notice Weiss and Yang entering. He wore heavy silver plate armor, adorned with gold trim and a gold lion's head in the center of the chestplate. Strapped to his back was a giant golden shield sculpted into the head and mane of a lion and a golden longsword with the hilt in the shape of golden wings. His hair had grown out just a little, with signs of shaved facial hair growing back in, and his blue eyes gleamed with the flow of his aura. He looked like a paladin, a gleaming soldier of the light born solely to push back the darkness. "Hey, it's about time you guys made it!" His voice had deepened a bit, but still held that awkward and disarming scratchy tone to it.

Pyrrha, standing shoulder to shoulder with Jaune, was the next to look up. Her copper hair flowed down over her shoulder plates, her armor having been reinforced. Unlike her husband's, her armor was a bronzed gold with a silvery trim her burnt bronze skirt hanging down behind her left knee. She had two swords sheathed at her hips and a mechanical contraption sat on her left bracer. "Hello again!" Her sweet voice didn't match her Goddess-of-War appearance.

"YANG!" Nora's voice shouted up over the crowd. She had grown out her hair, orange locks flowing down her back. She wore simple leather armor comprised by a shoulderless chestpiece which exposed her godlike abs, a leather skirt, and simple boots and bracers, with light iron plating reinforcing the chestpiece, hips, and shins. Her weapon was slung across her back, looking less like a grenade launcher and more like a cannon, it's ammo drum which doubles as the head of the hammer form adorned with spikes and displaying spiked grenades within.

Lie Ren gave a small wave with his free hand, his other arm being wrapped around Nora's waist. He couldn't speak, shown by the scar on his throat which he had earned from an elite Beowolf's claw during their first mission after graduation. He wore a black tailcoat adorned with an emerald colored dragon pattern and trimmed in the same emerald color along with jet black suit pants and shoes. His Storm Flowers lay on the table, having been reinforced and upgraded with a larger bore and clips, as well as longer double-edged scythed blades.

"I'm glad you're here, we're finally ready to start working on planning our rescue attempt." Ozpin spoke up over the crowd, the sheer importance carried in his voice instantly silencing any other conversations that were going on.

"You mean we finally found it?" Yang's eyes widened in excitement, her eyes flashing with a touch of red. "Where is it? I wanna fucking kill them!"

"Yes, once we convinced Cinder Fall that her 'friends' weren't coming back for her, it was easy to get her to divulge everything she knew about their base." Ikari said, a slight hint of sadism dripping off of her voice. "I never thought interrogation could actually be fun."

"Well, where is it then?" Weiss slammed her hands on the holotable and making the images flicker out slightly.

"Turns out," Ironwood started, the irritation clear in his voice, "that it was right under our noses the entire time. They're set up in a warehouse in Atlas' docks."

Yang was the next one to pipe in, "But Blake and I checked that area, we didn't find anything! How could it be there?"

"Cinder mentioned something called a 'Perception Filter', as well as extremely advanced jamming technologies." Drake stated as if everyone should've known this. "It was pretty much invisible to everything we have."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Weiss practically shouted. "Let's go get Ruby and Blake back!"

"Patience, Ms. Schnee." Ozpin stated calmly. "We're going to be going in blind, so it would be wise to prepare as much as possible beforehand. If we go in there and find ourselves unable to adapt to whatever faces us, we'll simply end up with more casualties and nobody rescued."

Weiss looked like she was about to argue with Ozpin, but stopped herself and looked down. "I guess you're right…"

"I'll start preparing a strike force immediately." Ironwood stated, turning away from the table. "I assume you'll be leading the operation yourself, Oz?"

"As much as I would like to command from behind the scenes, I feel I might be needed on the front lines this time around." Ozpin stated, taking a sip of his coffee and staring thoughtfully off into space.

* * *

"I think our cover is blown guys." Roman said, hurriedly stepping into the office.

"Now what would make you say that, child?" Zynetken said, face buried in some arcane tome.

"There's been an increase in the number of Atlesian airships flying over the docks and an increase in overall security on the ground." Roman said, obviously concerned at the situation. "On top of that, I heard Professor Ozpin has set up in the area. Whether they actually know where we are or not, they're getting ready to make a move."

"Keep an eye on their patrol patterns." Kelas said, turning away from the window. "Start moving everything to the backup site when we have openings. Let's turn this place into a death trap."

"And our guests?" Roman asked, referring to the two Huntresses they had captured.

"We'll keep them here, have a bit more fun before Atlas makes it's move. If they get rescued, so be it." Kelas said. "Past entertainment, we've already exhausted their usefulness."

"Alright, I'll get everyone moving then." Roman said, turning towards the door. "Just… try not to turn this into my grave as well."

* * *

"How could we have missed an entire warehouse?" Yang hissed, leaning on the wall surrounding the rooftop of a general store. Across the street were the warehouses for the docks, the specific building in question sitting at the end of a row of warehouses.

"Judging by what we've seen of Kelas' abilities, making it so somebody simply doesn't notice something seems like it would be a simple task for him." Weiss stated matter-of-factly while gazing at the warehouse through a pair of binoculars. "I myself feel like I'll forget it's there entirely if I look away."

Professor Ozpin's voice crackled over the girls' earpieces. "Is everyone in position?" Ozpin was observing the scene from the top of a nearby building, making sure everything was coordinated perfectly.

Jaune's voice was the next to come through their earpieces. "Shock Team ready and waiting for the signal." Jaune, Pyrrha, and a large number of Atlesian Knight-360s were stationed behind shipping crates a couple dozen yards from the bay door on the north side of the target warehouse, ready to blast through and storm the place.

"Strike Group Alpha in position and ready." Drake's voice came through the comms. He and Ikari were stationed on the roof of the warehouse to the east of the target.

"Strike Group Beta ready to blow some shit up!" Nora's voice came across a little too excitedly from behind some crates to the west of the target.

Weiss nodded to Yang. "Strike Group Gamma ready to bring the heat!" Yang said, pumping her fists to ready her Ember Celica.

"Very well then." Ozpin spoke calmly through the comm link. "Jaune, I leave the rest to you."

"Thank you, sir." Jaune's voice crackled through their earpieces, clearing his throat before continuing. "Friends and comrades, today we will strike a crippling and devastating blow against our newfound enemy. The man known as Kelas is a menace to our entire world, and we stand here today with the intent to bring his reign of terror to an end. However, we must not forget our friends who have been taken by the enemy. Two of the best Huntresses Remnant has ever seen, Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna, were captured by the enemy, and our first priority not only to them, but to ourselves, is to make sure they make it out of there. Now, who's with me?!"

The response was… underwhelming, the handful of Hunters being supported mostly by androids, but the cheers that came through the comms were inspiring enough to steel the group against the battle to come. Jaune raised his sword, signaling the group to charge, the first barrage of attacks coming from missiles launched at the bay door of the warehouse. Jaune and Pyrrha led the main force into the main door of the building, the rest of the Hunters moving in on the secondary doors on the other walls.

The group of Hunters and combat androids converged in the warehouse, the vast expanse of the building unlit and devoid of objects. They readied themselves, scanning the shadowy corners of the building for any sign of life. Something was wrong, they were certain that this is where the enemy base was, but it looked as if the building had been abandoned for years. Their fears were confirmed when automatic weapons fire started raining down on them from above, their enemies having used cloaking devices to hide in the rafters of the structure.

"Everyone get to cover!" Pyrrha shouted as Jaune deployed a silvery aura shield in an area around the main group. Drake, Ren and Weiss jumped up to the rafters and started tearing down the gunmen while Nora and Yang blasted down whoever they could. Another group of enemies appeared in the main doorway, moving in with swords and laying down machine gun fire, Ikari, Jaune and Pyrrha rushing in to meet them head on while the androids provided support. It only took a couple of minutes for all of the soldiers to get cleared out, scorched, slashed, and bullet-ridden bodies littering the floor.

"Well, at least we know we're in the right place." Jaune stated simply, looking about the now bloody and messy warehouse.

"We should start looking for a trap door or hidden room somewhere." Weiss said, patrolling the walls of the building for anything hidden. The rest of the group began searching as well while the androids patrolled for any more enemies. Yang stomped around impatiently, eyes locked on the ground looking for anything that seemed out of place. The hand of one of the enemy soldiers, apparently still conscious, locked around her ankle, causing her to slam her fist into the man's abdomen and fire off Ember Celica, blasting him through the floor. Looking down, Yang noticed there was an entrance to a tunnel where the man had been.

"Hey guys, I think I found something." Yang said, the rest of the Hunters gathering to observe the hole in the ground. "Think they're down there?" Nobody got the chance to answer the question as gunfire echoed through the building once more. The previously slain soldiers were standing back up, bearing down on the now scattered android force.

"How are they not dead?!" Ikari shouted as a soldier missing everything below his waist began firing at them with an assault rifle, Jaune moving to block the fire with his shield. The hunters went back to fighting, trying to clear out the seemingly unkillable soldiers.

"Wonderful puppets, aren't they?" a scratchy voice came from behind the hunters. A black robed man with messy grey hair and strange goggles stood behind the group grinning widely. "A little bit of your android technology combined with my black magic. Much less noisy than my old mechanical puppets."

"Who the hell are you?" Yang shouted at the scrawny man in front of her.

"Why, I am Zynetken, Avatar of Fear, Head Torturer of the Dark Legion, and humble servant to His Highness, Kelas Sekarian." The man stated simply, sidestepping a blast of fire before continuing. "I presume you're here for our guests? I'm afraid I am required to prevent you from continuing."

"And I'm afraid I can't permit you to stop them." Ozpin's voice came from a few meters away, Glynda following close behind and taking care of any stray constructs. Ozpin walked up to the black cloaked man and took a sip of his coffee. "Question is, what are we going to do about this impasse?"

"If you wish to challenge me, I'm afraid I will have to go to battle against your underling. You see, my Lord has claimed you as his opponent in advanced and even for me to cross him would be unwise." Zynetken explained.

"Glynda, do you think you can handle him?" Ozpin asked in a serious tone, looking over his shoulder.

"I don't think I have much of a choice." Glynda said, adjusting her glasses. "I suppose we should take this elsewhere?"

"That would be best, we can't have collateral damage killing Remnant's future, now can we?" Ozpin stated.

"As I am outnumbered, I have no choice but to make a tactical retreat, fighting anyone who wishes to pursue." Zynetken mused sarcastically, turning and walking towards the main door. "Assuming that's fine with you, my Lord."

Kelas emerged from the underground tunnel, bored eyes scanning the chaos in front of him. "Do what you will, Zyn. You know very well who my target is." He said offhandedly, glancing in the direction of Ozpin. "Usually the commander doesn't show his face on the frontlines unless absolutely necessary."

"Usually the commander doesn't leave his army and go do his own thing." Ozpin replied, taking a sip from his coffee. "I assume you have no intention of impeding my students?"

"But Professor Ozpin, you can't just-" Weiss tried to argue only to be interrupted by Kelas.

"Preventing them from accomplishing their goal is a secondary concern." Kelas stated simply. "I wanted to see how powerful the most powerful man in this world is. From what I've been able to learn, that appears to be you. If your students are still lingering about after I've finished with you, I will show no mercy."

"Then it's settled." Ozpin sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Team JNPR, keep the area clear of any other enemies or civilians. Drake and Ikari will go with Weiss and Yang to retrieve the rest of their team while I hold Kelas off here. Understood?"

"But Professor-" Weiss tried to protest again, only to be shushed.

"Ms. Schnee, your teammates need you far more than I do right now." The Headmaster of Beacon lectured. "I am well aware of the threat that my opponent poses, and I have made my decision with that knowledge in mind. My job is to secure the future of Remnant, and the highest priority in that is to make sure that all of our young Huntsman and Huntresses survive to do the same. Now stop delaying and go." Weiss nodded slowly before leaping into the tunnels, followed by Drake, Ikari, and Yang, with Team JNPR scattering to secure the area.

"Now," Kelas started, his bored look transforming into a grin, "shall we get this started?"

* * *

"I suppose you aren't just going to let me leave without a fight, are you?" Zynetken said, turning and drawing his wand from his sleeve.

"I suppose you never had any intention of fleeing without a fight, did you?" Glynda shot back, adjusting her glasses and readying her crop.

"True. Let's see how you handle yourself." Zynetken waved his wand at Glynda, a screaming ghostly bolt firing from the tip and whizzing past as Glynda dodged, wide-eyed in surprise at the projectile. She dodged a couple more screaming projectiles and blocked one with her crop, noticing that they were flying around her in a wide arc. "My powers are based on fear, darling. What's scarier than a bunch of screaming ghost bolts?"

"You really are one strange character…" Glynda mumbled before picking up rubble from the assault on the warehouse and tossing it at the madman in front of her, Zynetken countering by shattering the rubble into dust with a wave of his wand. Zynetken fired a blast of black lightning at Glynda, the woman dodging and countering with a blast of purple aura in return. The two sorcerers traded spells, neither one missing a beat or losing their flow. In the midst of a flurry of magical blasts from both parties, Zynetken blindsided Glynda with a screamer bolt. Glynda tried to avoid, but amidst the rain of spells coming from her opponent she was still grazed by the ghostly projectile before it returned to the madman's wand.

"How interesting…" Zynetken mused out loud, looking at the tip of his wand and then to his opponent. He summoned an ornate staff with a shaft of spiraling liquid black steel topped by an orb that seemed to reflect the deepest reaches of the universe. "The fears of mortals can be quite curious."

* * *

Ozpin drew his sword from his cane just in time to parry the sweeping slash coming from Kelas' black sword, the force sending him skidding backwards across the ground. Kelas appeared in front of him again, forcing him to block the wild downwards blow threatening to bisect him, the impact between the two forces causing the ground below the Headmaster to shatter. Kelas used the crossguard of his sword to gain leverage from Ozpin's guard, kicking his opponent in the chest with both feet and gracefully backflipping on to his feet while Ozpin corrected his position in mid air and landed in a crouch.

"I see you have no intention of holding back." The veteran Huntsman stated simply, brushing off his suit before lowering into a fighting stance. "In that case, I will not withhold any of my power from you." Ozpin channelled his aura into his weapon, a green glow enveloping the blade as the gears in the handle of the weapon began to whir to life. He raised his sword and brought it down swiftly, a vertical wave of emerald energy projecting out of the blade and rushing forward at insane speeds. Kelas sidestepped the attack in the nick of time, the energy wave continuing on and demolishing the wall that was behind him, a small chasm in the ground tracing back to the source of the destruction. Kelas merely grinned before rushing in again, the two swordsman dancing around each other, locked in a lightning fast exchange of blows. Kelas' hair and duster fluttered through the air amidst the spins and acrobatics of his wild swordsmanship style, Ozpin expertly dodging and parrying the blows, striking at the opportune moments and predicting the seemingly random progression of attacks coming from his opponent. Kelas sent Ozpin skidding backwards once again with a horizontally sweeping blow executed during an angled mid air barrel roll, the Huntsman countering in-motion with a horizontal aura blast which Kelas ducked, almost laying on the ground, before charging forward from his lowered position and striking Ozpin with an upwards slash, his blade leaving a trail in the concrete behind him. The Headmaster flipped in mid air, rebounding off of a support beam and charging his blade with a thrust attack down towards the God who lept backwards away from the ensuing blast. The two swordsmen rushed at each other, once again locking in a lethal dance of blades, the speed of which no other in Remnant could match.

* * *

Yang charged forward, leading Drake, Ikari, and Weiss down the long and dark tunnel. She skidded to a halt upon coming to a four-way intersection.

"Which way should we go first?" Weiss asked, scanning the dark corridors for any sign of what might be at the end.

"I'll go left, call it a hunch." Yang stated, peering down the long hallway to the group's left.

"I'll proceed forward." Drake said, beginning a casual but cautious advance onward.

"I guess I'll take right." Weiss stated simply.

"I'll go with Yang." Ikari decided. "If her hunch is right, she'll need help moving Blake and Ruby."

The group split up down their respective paths. Weiss didn't take long to reach the end of her chosen hallway, coming to a steel door which was left slightly ajar. She entered the room slowly, illuminating her way with a dust crystal. What she found horrified her. Blood stained the ground in the center of the room, various torture devices littered the walls and floor. Arcane runes surrounded the center of the room on both the floor and ceiling. She covered her mouth in realization, tears welling up in her eyes from the thoughts of the atrocities committed in this room. She turned back to the door, running down the hall towards Yang and Ikari, praying that the blood and scratches around the room weren't from her friends.

After a while of walking, Drake reached what appeared to be an old wooden door. He reached for the handle to open it, but was surprised when the door handle zapped him in return. Deciding to use force, he attempted to kick the door in, but was thrown backward by a pulse wave from the door. Drake, visibly irritated by the door's antics, withdrew a small device from his cloak and chucked it at the door. When the door tried to defend against the piece of technology, the device exploded, a few splinters being the only thing remaining of the unfortunate portal. Drake grinned and entered the room beyond the now obliterated obstruction, looking around to find what appeared to be a personal office. Bookshelves lined the room and a large wooden desk sat at the far end. There were a handful of books and objects still scattered around the room, a few lying haphazardly on the floor, indicating that the room had been cleared out in a hurry. He picked up a book and started browsing through the strange writings contained within until he heard Weiss' voice screaming for Yang down the hall. "What's going on?" He shouted down the hall, his eyes widening as the ceiling of the room began to glow a strange greenish color. He looked up and saw an array of runes transcribed above him before he was deafened by a loud shrieking noise. He cursed himself for being so careless before grabbing a couple of books and rushing down the hall after Weiss.

Yang and Ikari ran down the hall full speed. This path seemed to stretch on forever, but pretty soon they came to what looked like a threshold into another section leading further on. They entered slowly, finding the walls of the hallway lined with small cubic alcoves. Yang rushed on to the end of the hallway, looking to her left to find her partner and noticing her sister in the alcove across. Yang dropped to her knees next to her faunus lover, shaking the girl and scanning over her body. Blake's clothes were tattered and torn and her body was covered in an array of cuts, burns, and bruises. Weiss came shouting down the hall after them, Ikari gesturing to Ruby's location so Weiss could check on her partner.

"Blake, wake up." Yang whispered softly, shaking the faunus Huntress gently to rouse her from her sleep. Blake's eyes slowly started to open before she jerked back, staring wide eyed in fear at Yang.

"N-n-no, stop, p-please…" Blake whimpered, pressing her body tightly against the wall behind her. "I-I can't take a-anymore…" tears started forming in her eyes.

"Blake, kitten, it's me." Yang whispered gently, reaching out towards the terrified faunus. _What have they done to her?!_ she screamed internally. The girl in front of her was not the fierce and strong faunus warrior that she had known, no, the girl in front of her was a broken shadow of what she once was, tormented to the point where nightmare could no longer be differentiated from reality.

"I-I…" Blake stuttered, flinching as Yang reached out towards her. She cowered up against the wall, unable to escape the blonde in front of her as she felt the hands of the other woman cup her cheek and wrap around her waist. She shut her eyes tightly, about ready to scream against the terror when she felt Yang's lips press into her own. The kiss was warm and gentle, yet still passionate. She felt a warm sensation run through her body and decided to take a chance on this Yang. Maybe it wasn't a nightmare after all…

Weiss dropped to her knees next to her partner, tears streaming down her face. Ruby's clothes were shredded and her body was covered with burns and cuts, some of the cuts even having burns around them. She took the younger Huntress in her arms and gently stroked her cheek.

"Ruby, it's me. Please wake up." Weiss choked out quietly, Ruby beginning to open her eyes. The leader of Team RWBY looked up at Weiss, then to Ikari who was standing behind Weiss before noticing her sister crouched over Blake across the hallway.

"W-Weiss? I-is it really you?" Ruby whispered softly, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Of course it's me, y-you dolt." Weiss choked back, embracing Ruby tightly and sobbing.

"Owowowow! Weiss, that hurts!" Ruby whined as her partner disturbed the numerous wounds across her body. The reunions couldn't last long however as Drake ran up behind the group.

"Guys. we gotta move." He huffed out, clearly having been running from something. "I think I tripped some security system and it's causing the hallways to distort." Yang picked Blake up on her back, Drake doing the same for Ruby, and the group ran for the exit of the underground complex. None of them could prepare them for what waited for them outside.

* * *

Glynda struggled to keep her mind in check as vivid images of death and destruction flashed through her head. Her stance faltered as the image of Beacon Academy burning to the ground flashed before her eyes. She tried to shut out the influence of her opponent's magic, but to no avail. She dropped to a knee as an image of students lying dead amidst smoldering ruins appeared before her.

"Such a simple thing to be afraid of." The madman chuckled, the crystal on his staff radiating dark energy. "Buildings can be rebuilt, soldiers can be replaced, ideals will never die off. So what makes you so afraid of your precious school being destroyed?"

As the right hand of Beacon's headmaster, Glynda knew exactly why the concept was so terrifying. Hunters train their whole life to learn to defend Remnant against the Grimm that are constantly clawing at the walls of the kingdoms and the shadowy groups that seek to tear them down from within. To destroy Beacon, the most prestigious combat school in Remnant, would be to doom Remnant. The threat to the kingdoms was constant, they didn't have the _luxury_ to have Beacon, and with it an entire generation of future Hunters, destroyed.

Glynda tried to concentrate, sending a shard of ruined metal at her opponent only to have it swatted to the side by a magical pulse wave. The madman approached her and placed the crystal of his staff up against her forehead. The scene that appeared before her was one of utter devastation. Corpses of students and Hunters alike lay amidst the burning ruins of Beacon Academy. She heard sirens in the distance behind her and turned to see Vale in chaos, massive fires in the distance clouding the sky with smoke. She turned back to Beacon, seeing shadowy creatures approaching her from all sides. Numerous Beowolves and Ursi emerged from the smoke and ruins, all of them far larger that they should naturally be, led by a ghostly faceless creature. The specter descended upon her, shoving it's pointed claws through her heart as the Grimm moved in for their prize.

Glynda collapsed to the ground, hyperventilating with sweat dripping out of every pore. Zynetken stood over her, grinning like the madman he was until a crash was heard from the warehouse in the distance, a figure of someone flying out of the building through a wall and slamming into the steel leg of a nearby crane.

* * *

Ozpin and Kelas clashed blades once again, the force shattering the concrete floor of the warehouse below them. By this point, Team JNPR had stopped patrolling and decided to watch the fight between their teacher and the God which assaulted their world from within the safety of Jaune's Aura Bubble Shield. Ozpin charged his blade and pushed Kelas back with a wave of aura, the God deflecting the attack to the side after sliding back a short distance before lunging back in with a wild downwards slash. The Headmaster sidestepped, letting Kelas' blade embed itself in the concrete and blocking the follow up punch aimed squarely at his jaw with his arms, the force of the blow throwing him back a few feet. Kelas removed his blade from the concrete and charged his energy into the blade, spinning all the way around and releasing the energy in a horizontal wave, mimicking the aura attacks thrown at him by Ozpin who ducked and deflected the attack into the upper wall of the structure. Following through, Ozpin did a spin himself and released a charged attack vertically from the ground, blasting chunks of concrete at his bloodthirsty opponent.

Kelas charged through the debris, unfazed by the chunks of concrete in his way and slashed repeatedly at Ozpin, forcing him on the defensive. The Huntsman jumped back, charging another attack and executing it with a thrust, Kelas being forced to defend with a black shield sprouting from his arm and being pushed back through multiple steel supports into the far wall of the structure, deflecting the remaining energy of the blast. The God retaliated with a punch, amplified by the black material encasing his arm, strong enough to send a shockwave towards Ozpin, who dodged with the shockwave leaving a gaping hole in the wall behind him. Kelas rushed in, readying a sweeping upwards strike. Ozpin parried, only to find his sword arm being pushed in the air and Kelas' left hand accelerating towards his abdomen. The blow made contact, sending Ozpin hurtling through the wall of the building and into the steel leg of a crane outside.

Drake, Ikari, and Team RWBY emerged from the tunnels just in time to see their former Headmaster and current commander flying through the wall of the warehouse, Kelas following his target through the hole. They saw Team JNPR and Glynda running towards the scene of the battle outside and followed. Ozpin was beat up, stumbling as he recovered from being thrown into the crane. Taking a breath, the Headmaster of Beacon met Kelas' sword with his own yet again, dust being thrown up from the amount of power behind the strikes. They dueled, Ozpin struggling to keep up. In a last ditch attempt, the veteran Huntsman grabbed onto Kelas' shirt, charged his blade with all the energy he had to spare, and thrust it into Kelas' chest. The aura released in a massive blast, leaving a gaping hole in the God's chest and levelling the warehouse behind him. Ozpin's eyes widened as he felt a piercing pain through his own chest as he watched the body of the God in front of him dissolve into black ash.

* * *

"NO!" Glynda screamed as she watched Kelas impale Ozpin from behind with a black spike extending from his arm, the madman she had been fighting had disappeared amidst the chaos. Jaune and Ren moved to hold her back, knowing better than to let anyone interfere in such a battle even in its final moments. Weiss dropped to her knees as Pyrrha covered her mouth in shock, Ikari and Nora simply balling their fists in anger while Drake gritted his teeth and Yang growled. Tears welled up in Ruby's eyes and Blake tightened her grip around Yang.

"So this is how my story ends…" Ozpin mused sadly, his left hand moving to the spike piercing through his heart as his sword clattered to the ground.

"You put up a good fight." Kelas stated simply. "In return, I'll leave them a body to bury before they carry on. Every good warrior deserves a proper burial."

"That's very noble for a God of Darkness." The Huntsman joked. "I doubt they'll appreciate the gesture." He looked up at his students, his eyes landing on Glynda. She had always been by his side, supporting him every step of the way and cleaning up after his mistakes.

"You think they'll be able to carry on without you?" The God asked curiously, earning a chuckle from Ozpin.

"What an unusual thing for you to ask." Ozpin said, eyes drifting to the ground in front of him as his vision began to fade. "I couldn't have made them any better than they are now, even if I tried. I'm sure they'll do fine…" He dropped to his knees as the spike retracted from his chest before slumping on to the ground, the last of the light within him flickering out.

Kelas looked over at the remaining Hunters, listening to the sound of Atlas' entire military closing in around him. He closed his eyes and vanished, disappearing into some dark isolated corner of Remnant.

* * *

 _One Week Later..._

Glynda wiped the tears from her eyes with her handkerchief as she turned and walked away from the grave of her closest friend, set overlooking the Emerald Forest from the cliffs above. Team RWBY and Team JNPR were waiting for her a few yards away. Ruby and Blake had begun rehabilitation earlier that week, but both were still a bit skittish and quiet.

"What do we do now?" Jaune spoke up first. "We can't just sit here and wait until he attacks again."

"We will hunt him across every corner of Remnant, and we will not stop until we bring him down." Glynda growled, a fierce fire burning in her eyes. "This is war."

* * *

The dark energy dispersed as Kelas finished the summoning spell, a humanoid figure fading into view. Half of it's face was jet black with a glowing white eye, the other half bleach white with an eye black as the void. It had no mouth or nose with shaggy black and white hair. It wore a bleach white buttoned up trench coat with black buttons and lining over a pair of black boots and gloves. Upon noticing Kelas, it immediately dropped to one knee and bowed its head in reverence.

"My Lord," it said in an ethereal voice, "what honor it is to be in your presence. What do you require so urgently from a lowly Servitor such as myself that you must summon me directly?"

"It has to do with your transfer," Kelas stated, "as well as your field promotion. You were the Servitor of the 3rd Special Operations Legion, correct?"

The creature looked up in surprise, "Yes, that is I, Muulten of the Two Paths."

"I am transferring you to this world known as Remnant, and I am promoting you to High Servitor of all operations within this world." Kelas stated. "Your task will be to research the native darkness in this universe and learn how to control and manipulate it to our advantage as well as setup and maintain our long term presence here."

"It is an honor, My Lord." Muulten stated. "I gladly accept."


	15. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Return to the Emerald Forest**

Blake woke with a start, sweat running down her forehead and causing the blonde next to her to stir. Her rehabilitation, as well as Ruby's, had been going well over the past month, with a lot of progress being made in restoring the line between what was an illusion and what was real. This, however, did not help ease the nightmares she'd been having since she had been cut by Kelas' blade. The doctors said that there was some dark energy remaining in her system that they wouldn't be able to remove and that the mental scarring from her ordeal would make her more susceptible to this. Ruby had grown quieter since the ordeal, however she still managed to put on a cheery smile when they most needed it.

"Another nightmare, kitten?" Yang grumbled, still half asleep. She had gotten used to Blake waking up in the middle of the night.

"Yea, another nightmare." Blake lay back down, promptly getting trapped in Yang's arms.

"Well I'll be right here to protect you from any boogeymen." Yang said, snuggling into her partner and quickly falling back asleep.

* * *

Team RWBY and Team JNPR stood in what used to be Professor Ozpin's office, Glynda sitting behind his desk with her chin resting on her folded hands.

"To start us off," Glynda opened her eyes and looked at the young Hunters in front of her, "the doctors have cleared Ms. Belladonna and Ms. Rose for active duty, however you two are still required to attend weekly therapy sessions." Blake nodded in confirmation while Ruby did a silent mini cheer. "Moving on, we've received reports of an increase in the number and strength of Grimm in and around the Emerald Forest. We need you to investigate and try to find the reason for this."

"You can count on us, Ms. Goodwitch!" Ruby said cheerfully, saluting before turning and leading the two teams out the door.

"I didn't dismiss you yet…" Glynda mumbled under her breath as the door closed behind her former students.

* * *

 _Two weeks prior…_

"What have you been able to learn?" Kelas' voice boomed through the pitch black room, glowing red eyes staring down at the one visible white eye below him.

"I have been able to absorb the power of various Grimm. Each one has unique traits, and their power can be integrated with energy from the Void to enhance and manipulate their traits." The ethereal voice of Muulten echoed through the chamber. "I have already integrated the power of these creatures into my own physiology, and I have begun work on creating a hybridization of these traits within one creature. On top of all that, through combining the power of these Grimm with Void energies, we can corrupt the souls of creatures that actually have them."

"Excellent, continue as you were and use whatever resources Zynetken can provide to assist you. It's almost time to start making moves against the light in this world." Kelas' eyes vanished from the abyss of the room, though his presence still resonated throughout.

Muulten faded out of the room, opening his eyes in front of a massive jagged black crystal, nearly 100 feet tall and 25 feet across, contained within a massive cathedral-like chamber. "Yes, My Lord." he murmured before turning towards the bridge to the exit of the chamber.

 _End flashback._

* * *

Team RWBY leapt out of the Bullhead, landing gracefully on the ground below. They scanned the forest around themselves for any threats. Ruby waved her hand to dismiss the Bullhead before the four proceeded cautiously into the forest. As they proceeded, they found claw marks across trees and unusually large prints in the soft soil.

"Can you tell what did this, Blake?" Weiss asked, cautiously holding her sword in front of her.

"It looks like a large Beowolf came through here, and pretty recently." She narrowed her eyes. "But there's something strange…"

"What is it, Blake?" Yang asked, walking up next to her and crouching to examine a print.

"First off, they're _too_ big." Blake said, running her fingers across a claw mark on a tree. "Another thing though… I can feel something from it."

"Like a lingering dread…?" Ruby asked quietly.

"Yeah." Blake turned and started walking deeper into the forest. "I think it went this way."

"Spoooky." Yang said in a 'ghostly' voice.

The group proceeded through the forest, the destruction growing as they went along. They passed a number of broken and felled trees, making the path harder to traverse. They came to a clearing and saw a large black figure in the center of it.

"Is that it?" Weiss asked, visibly intimidated by the hulking black mass.

"I think so." Blake whispered. The shadowy form turned towards the four, bearing a mouth full of massive pointed teeth, its face and snout covered by a white mask with red designs, glowing red eyes focusing their malicious intent on the four girls. It stood on it's hind legs, making itself taller than a single story cottage.

"That thing could take on a Deathstalker…" Yang said in awe, her stance faltering.

"We need to kill it, that thing would be too much for Vale's security forces." Ruby said, bringing Crescent Rose up and aiming at the massive Beowolf. "Plus, I think it's seen us."

The Beowolf roared and dropped back down to all fours, charging the girls. Ruby and Yang pummeled the beast with heavy weapons fire, but the hulking monster didn't even flinch. They jumped out of the way as it attempted to pounce on them, Weiss attempting to freeze the beast's paws to the ground. It easily broke free, swiping it's paw at Weiss and batting her into a nearby tree. Ruby retaliated quickly, using Crescent Rose to slice the Giant Beowolf's paw clean off before launching herself into the air and attempting to do the same to the creature's neck only to embed the scythe in the thickened hide of the beast. Instead of doing any noticeable damage, this only made the creature mad, causing it to flail and send Ruby tumbling to the ground.

"We'll have to shoot it through it's head!" Blake called out, firing off multiple rounds towards the face of the monstrous creature, to no effect.

"Yang, if Weiss and I can knock it over, would you be able to crack it's mask?" Ruby called, Weiss running up next to her.

"You bet!" the blonde called back. "Blake, swing me!"

Blake tossed Yang the gun blade of Gambol Shroud, attached to a chain, and swung with Yang using Ember Celica to boost her speed. Weiss and Ruby combined an attack under the unsuspecting Grimm's side, pushing it over as Yang came around with a full speed blow to the top of it's head. The mask on the Grimm's head cracked, seemingly leaking dark energy.

"Blake, finish it!" Ruby called out. Blake dashed in with Gambol Shroud, firing multiple shots into the crack before shoving both blades through and activating the Fire Dust of the off hand blade. The beast roared in pain, its body wrenching before exploding into a cloud of dark energy that quickly dispersed.

"Well, that was strange." Weiss said, looking at the empty space where the Giant Beowolf had just been.

"This has to relate to Kelas somehow." Blake stated, shaking away an unpleasant memory. "We should keep looking, I think I feel a high concentration of Darkness to the north."

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Yang said, marching off roughly to the east.

"Wrong way, sis." Ruby said with a sigh.

"I knew that…" Yang bluffed, following her team north.

* * *

"I am soooo glad we don't have to pay taxes on this place." Roman said for no reason to no one in particular.

"Huh?" Kelas looked up from the tome he was reading.

"I hate taxes." Roman stated, as if it was obvious. "I hate babies, too. They're so annoying."

"Are you seriously so bored that you're listing off the things you hate?" Kelas asked in surprise.

"Neo and I can only keep it up for so long, and aside from that there's not a whole lot to do around here." Neo, who was lying on the nearby couch, glared at Roman. "Especially since you kinda just gave up our 'guests' without a second thought."

"We're in a top-notch evil lair outfitted with everything a villain could possibly need, and the only thing you can find to do is your short partner with the weird color scheme?" Kelas seemed dumbfounded at the thought.

"To be completely fair, most of the books that you and mister schizo brought with are written in a language that I could never hope to understand, most of the cool trinkets and artifacts you have here don't think I'm 'worthy' enough to even look at them, and all of the other things either are too complex for me to even try or so far beyond my comprehension that I'm scared to even _think_ about what they might do." Roman ranted to the now disinterested God.

"Then go cause some trouble." Kelas stated, turning back to his book. "You need a diversion, I need someone to make diversions. It's a win-win."

"So you want me to go and do your dirty work?" Roman asked, clearly irritated by the thought.

"No, I'm saying that you should go do what you do best." Kelas stated simply. "Not only will it kill your boredom, but it will also help our operation to go a bit smoother."

Roman took a breath, calming down and playing with the idea a bit. "Yeah… yeah, why not? It's been awhile since the last big heist."

* * *

Team JNPR marched onward through the thick forest. Their investigation had so far been uneventful, but they had been able to hear the gunshots from Team RWBY's fight in the distance.

"You think they're doing okay?" Jaune asked, looking at the beautiful redhead which he had married.

"I'm sure they're fine, Jaune." Pyrrha grinned at her Golden Knight. "They're hailed at the best Huntresses in Remnant for a very good reason." The two of them were so caught up in each other that they didn't notice that Ren and Nora had stopped a few yards back.

"HEY! LOVEBIRDS!" Nora shouted out towards the two, causing them to turn in surprise. "WHAT'S THAT?!" The loud girl was pointing to a large mound of light tan material with multiple holes in it. Ren was staring in apprehension at the object which was as large as a house. Jaune and Pyrrha jogged back towards their teammates, looking curiously at the structure.

"Shall we see what's inside?" Jaune asked, walking up to the tan structure and drawing his sword.

"Jaune, wait!" Pyrrha shouted, but she was too late to stop him as he thrust his sword into the structure in an attempt to cut it open. The group fell silent for a moment as a buzzing noise began to reverberate from within the structure. Suddenly, a black insect-like Grimm that was as large as a person popped out of one of the holes. The creature's mask lay on top of it's head, above it's red compound eyes. Long black spikes protruding from it's back quivered as it flitted it's two pairs of red wings. It looked towards the Huntsman who had assaulted it's home before tapping the large stinger on its abdomen on the roof of the nest. Dozens more of the Grimm emerged from the various holes in the structure and rose into the air around the Hunters, Jaune ripping his sword out of the nest and returning to his team.

"We've woken the hive!" Jaune shouted, deploying his Aura bubble to ward off the first wave of giant stingers diving towards them. Jaune dropped the bubble and the four of them fought off the next waves with a flurry of blades, bullets, and explosives. The wasp Grimm didn't stop spawning from their nest, and as they killed off one, two more seemed to take it's place.

"Nora, blow the nest!" Pyrrha shouted, blocking a stinger that was destined for her neck with her shield and cutting the Grimm into thirds with her swords.

"Got it!" Nora swept through half a dozen wasps with her hammer before expertly launching numerous spike grenades into the holes of the nest. The grenades exploded into a shower of incendiary thermite powder, quickly burning the nest to the ground along with many dozen more of the wasp Grimm. The remaining Grimm quickly retreated into the forest, presumably to another nest.

"I've never seen any Grimm like that before." Jaune stated worriedly. "Where do you think they came from?"

"I don't know." Nora said as Ren inspected one of the Grimm corpses before it burst into a black vapor which quickly dissipated.

"Could Kelas be creating new Grimm to terrorize Remnant?" Pyrrha pondered as Ren looked at her in concern.

"If he is, we need to learn as much as we can about them out here and get the information back to Glynda." Jaune stated with authority. "Let's keep moving and see what we can find."

* * *

Team RWBY wandered through the forest searching for the source of the dark energy emanating through the forest. They came to a clearing containing the remnants of a circular stone structure. Team JNPR emerged from the forest a couple hundred yards down the treeline.

"Well, doesn't this bring back memories?" Yang said, scanning the fields that they had traversed on their second day at Beacon.

"It sure does." Ruby said, starting to space out before the approaching Team JNPR snapped her out of her trance.

"Looks like we've all found our way here once again." Jaune stated with a wave. "What brought you guys this direction?"

"Blakey's new found darkness senses." Yang said, receiving an elbow to the ribcage from the catgirl. "How about you guys?"

"Ooohhhhh you know, just following a swarm of giant wasp Grimm after burning their nest down." Nora said as if they were just discussing an average day off.

Just then, the sky blackened and a cloud of dark mist fell over the area, condensing around the stone structure in the distance. The group of Hunters quickly moved to investigate the focus of the disturbance, finding a tall figure wearing a white jacket who seemed to be causing the event. They heard a growling noise as the darkness finished condensing, the strange man turning towards them and revealing his half-black half-white face lacking a nose or mouth.

"What pleasant timing, I was hoping I could test my newest creation on someone." The figure said, his amused voice seeming to emanate from all around them. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Muulten, servant to Lord Kelas and High Servitor of the Dark Legion for this realm."

"Hi, I'm Yang." Yang replied. "I'm the person that's going to bash your stupid monochrome face in!" She rushed at the strange being punching wildly but unable to land a hit as it bent unnaturally around her attacks. Muulten grabbed the blonde's face, picking her up and throwing her effortlessly back to her friends.

"Don't you people listen?" The figure complained before stepping to the side and gesturing to a strange looking Grimm creature. "This creation of mine it is your opponent, the Sheolupi. I created it based off of a legendary creature from my universe." The creature looked like an armored wolf, the white plates of carapace bearing the usual red Grimm markings. It's mask covered the entire top half of it's head, saliva dripping from it's razor sharp teeth as its highly articulated claws gripped the stone surface with unbelievable strength. It had a long, black, whip-like tail with a sharp arrowhead shaped barb at the end. At its shoulder, it was almost as tall as Weiss if she weren't wearing heels.

"That thing doesn't look very friendly, guys." Jaune stated nervously, raising his shield in preparation to defend himself. The newly invented Grimm locked its eyes onto Jaune's shield, growling menacingly.

"Oh, I should mention," the strange being began, "this thing absolutely despises anything that might be considered part of 'The Light'. Have fun!" With that it disappeared, presumably to observe from a nearby area.

The Grimm roared and bolted forward with astounding speed, slamming into the upper part of Jaune's shield and tackling him to the ground. Pyrrha moved to attack the beast, missing her right-handed swing as the creature ducked under her slash and bit onto her arm, dragging her to the ground. It bolted towards Team RWBY, shaking off a few explosive slugs from Yang before leaping onto the blonde and clawing at her multiple times before pushing off into a backflip to dodge a slash from Blake. Weiss bolted in and struck the ground, freezing the Grimm's paws to the ground as Ruby and Nora readied a combo attack only to be stopped short by a gust of flame projecting from the beast's mouth. It turned the flames downward, melting the ice that held it in place before retreating a few piece and staring down the Hunters.

"It can breathe fire?!" Jaune exclaimed in surprise.

"We need a plan of attack." Ruby took the lead in the group. "It's not gonna be easy with Yang and Pyrrha out. Jaune, Nora, if you two can keep it pinned down, Blake, Weiss, Ren, and I can hit it when it's vulnerable."

Jaune rushed in, bashing at the Grimm with his shield and swinging his sword at it while Nora fired a barrage of grenades at it. It staggered when one of the grenades landed next to it, Jaune taking advantage of the opening to bash the creature with his shield and knocking it on its side allowing Ren to come in and slash it across the torso multiple times, retreating when the beast regained its composure to lash out at him. Nora landed another grenade right in front of its face, causing it to rear back on its hind legs which allowed Blake to come in with her twin blades and strike, knocking it backwards into Ruby's scythe. The Grimm roared in anger, snapping at Ruby as she jumped away. Weiss took this chance to try to attack it from behind, swinging downward viciously with a flaming blade only for the beast to twist and force the blade to hit an armor plate before slashing Weiss across the torso with its tail and forcing her to retreat.

"Weiss!" Ruby cried out, running up to support her partner. "Are you okay?"

"I should be fine." Weiss said, breathing heavily. "It just hurts a lot."

Jaune and Nora worked together to finish off the creature, Jaune impaling its head with his sword. They ran back to where their friends were, Ren staying behind to investigate the body of the Grimm, taking notes as he made observations.

"This is Jaune Arc of Team JNPR calling for evac, we are with Team RWBY and have three wounded." Jaune said over his headset. "Are you girls alright?"

Pyrrha and Yang nodded. Pyrrha's arm was a little torn up, but her bracer had taken most of the beating. Yang hadn't had the advantage of armor but had plenty of time to reinforce her aura before the Grimm could attack her, resulting in fairly trivial scratches. Weiss, however, had been caught off guard by the Grimm's counter attack and didn't have time to ready any sort of defense, resulting in a fairly deep but non-critical gash in her torso.

"I'll be fi-" Weiss started before keeling over in agony, eyes shooting wide open as her body reflexively curled into the fetal position.

"Weiss, what's wrong?" Ruby panicked, rolling Weiss onto her back to look at the wound. Ren ran up and tapped Jaune on the shoulder, holdinging out the blade of his pistol, a glistening purplish liquid glistening on the tip of it.

"Venom?" Jaune asked, to which Ren nodded. Jaune put his hand up to his headset again, hailing their ride out. "This is Jaune Arc, we need immediate evacuation, we have a Huntress down with an unknown venom in her system."

After a few minutes, a Bullhead arrived at the clearing, a couple of soldiers getting out to help Weiss into the vehicle before taking off.

* * *

"How is it that every time we get involved in anything having to do with this guy, one of us ends up in the hospital?" Yang complained, slamming her fist against the wall of Team RWBY's old dorm room at Beacon. Glynda had given them permission to use it while they were working out of the school.

"We put our lives on the line to protect others, it's part of the job description." Blake stated calmly.

"I know that, but before that bastard showed up we didn't have a single damned problem taking on the tasks we were given. Now we're sustaining injuries left and right, and to top it all off, we lost one of the wisest and most powerful Hunters the world has ever seen." Yang flopped onto her bed next to Blake. "I didn't work all my life to become a Huntress just to see our world snuffed out by some superhuman from another dimension." Ruby entered the dorm room, looking exhausted. "How's Weiss doing?"

"She's stable." Ruby sighed. "They were able to remove the toxin from her system, said it was unlike anything they've seen. Resembled a biological weapon more than it did any kind of natural venom." She took her cloak off and tossed herself onto her bed. "I'm gonna take a nap, then we need to do some more investigating."


	16. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Veni, Vidi, Vici**

Roman sighed, waving off another stupid plan thrown at him by one of his goons.

"Uhhh, we could rob a jewelry store." Another one of the goons spoke up.

"A jewelry store?" Roman said in a low voice, chuckling slightly. "A jewelry store? What do you think we are, some kind of street mob made up of overconfident thieves and drugged up gangsters? We're a terrorist organization, we need to blow shit up. A jewelry store robbery is hardly of any concern to Remnant's most powerful protectors right now with a fucking dark god waiting for his next chance to strike."

"We could blow up Beacon!" Yet another goon chimed in with a little too much enthusiasm.

Roman put his face into his hands, groaning loudly. "Are you really _that_ stupid? First off, the reason we're doing this is to make the preparations for a full fledged attack on Beacon go more smoothly. On top of that, we do not have the resources, manpower, or skillsets to even dream of sabotaging a school full of Hunters and Hunters in training."

"Why don't we blow up Vale's communication tower?" A tall woman in the back of the room spoke up. She had long, purplish-black hair and lavender eyes that almost seemed to glow in the dark room.

"Now that's just plain - wait, did you say blow up the communications tower?" Roman received a nod in return. "FINALLY! Someone actually came up with a good idea! The communications tower isn't too heavily guarded, it's in a fairly public and very high-traffic area meaning that both stealth value and collateral damage will be high, and to top it all off it's one of the most important buildings in the kingdom. Absolutely brilliant! What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Lila. Lila Lavende, gun for hire… well, bow for hire." The dark haired woman pulled a dark rod out from a holster at her lower back, the rod unfolding into a full sized compound bow. "I'm a master archer, expert at stealth and hand-to-hand combat, and I'm not half bad at hacking. Strong points are intelligence and assassination jobs."

"Good, very good. You'll be handling the operation, if all goes well you'll be getting a promotion as well." Roman paused in thought. "Anyone around here a demolitions expert?"

"Yo." A tall, stocky, dark skinned man with a bald head spoke up. "Name's Brick. Get me schematics and I'll turn that tower into a pile of rubble."

"Wonderful!" Roman exclaimed. "You two will handle the operation. We'll take on the intelligence side of things during the day. Get in, hack the systems, grab the schematics, and get out. We'll plant the charges in the appropriate spots that night and blow the joint the next day. Sound good?" Lila and Brick both nodded. "Good, you can take two, maybe three at most, men with you as backup, but we need to keep our footprint as small as possible. I'll call in an order for the hacking tool that we'll need to Zynetken, so go see him once we've wrapped up here."

* * *

Lila approached a large stone door engraved with a number of strange glowing runes. She went to knock on the door, but it swung open just as she was about to make contact. She advanced cautiously into the room, finding the large space lined with bookshelves containing strange tomes and desks stacked with unusual devices.

"Come, come in, girl. Roman told me you were coming." The crazy haired scientist said, waving Lila in.

"Roman said you'd have the hack I need?" Lila said cautiously.

"I'm going to have it, I just need to hook all this up." Zyn said, rushing over to one of the strange devices. "Can you connect the Astrological Receptor to the Divination Resonator?"

"Hook the what to the what?" Lila asked, confused.

"Hook the Astrological Receptor to the Divination Resonator!" Zyn exclaimed, everything making perfect sense in his warped mind. "The Oracle Generator can't do anything without either of those!"

"Come again?" The dark haired woman rubbed her temples, the confusion giving her a headache.

"It's simple!" Zynetken prepared a rant. "The Oracle Generator connects to the Astrological Receptor, which together forms the data in the Divination Resonator. This data gets stored in the Etheric Drive before being sent through the Rune Matrix for translation to alchemical data stored on the Alchemical Drive. This is sent to the Alchemical Regulator on the Summoning Panel, and POOF! Your item is complete!"

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Lila was even more confused now.

"I have Doctorates in Metallurgical Exorcism, Quantum Elementalism, Computational Illusionism, and Mathematical Runes, making a hack drive for these primitive computer systems is child's play!" Zyn ranted. "I'll do it myself!" Zynetken hooked two strange devices together before flipping some switches, pressing some buttons, and turning some dials. There was a bright flash and a small explosion on the other side of the room, resulting in what looked like a simple scroll lying on a panel. "There's your hack. Just plug it into one of the terminals and it will get you anything you need."

"Uhhh, okay." Lila took the scroll and left the room quickly, uncomfortable around the strange fusions of magic and tech.

"Not even a thank you, how rude."

* * *

 _Back in The Void…_

"What is your will, My Lord?" A man in heavy black power armor spoke from one end of the hexagonal table, the throne across from him occupied by a volatile black shadow with glowing red eyes.

"The time to claim this world as ours draws near." The shadow spoke. "A gate needs to be prepared."

"I sincerely doubt the resistance there is so strong as to justify drawing so many resources from here." The pale, white haired woman stated.

"It is not a matter of resistance, it's a matter of breaking their will to resist." The shadow stated. "The natives of this world are strong willed, we need to subjugate them completely to gain a solid foothold. As for the redirection of resources, in order for this legion, _my_ legion, to survive, we must expand beyond our home universe. My father fails to see that."

"That's all fine," the blonde haired woman started, "but my sources tell me that the forces of the Light are becoming suspicious of your absence. Word is that they're trying to track you down."

"We'll deal with them as they come. It could take them years to figure out what universe I'm in, longer if they have to guess." The shadow stated. "You all have your tasks, three days and we make our move."

* * *

 _Back in the Beacon Academy Dorms…_

"We can't just go back into the forest alone." Blake stated simply, trying to find a way to quell a furious red Huntress.

"We're not alone, there's three of us!" Ruby shouted in argument,

"We hardly made it out with eight of us, sis." Yang stated, the worry showing in her voice.

"But… I… Argh!" Ruby threw her arms in the air and flopped onto Weiss' bunk, sighing in frustration. "I know, but we can't just sit around here and do nothing."

"Maybe we should contact the AIC, see if Drake and Ikari have come up with any leads." Blake said. "I heard they're adding a couple more members to their task force."

"Sounds like a good idea!" Yang shouted, grabbing Ruby's hand and dragging her out of Weiss' bed. "Let's go!"

The girls reached the communications tower in a matter of minutes, entering and quickly ordering an empty booth.

"Your booth has been reserved. Thank you for u-u-uuuuuuu-" The holographic greeter froze before disappearing and reappearing, ready to greet the next visitor.

"That was strange…" Blake said, looking back at the greeter. She bumped into a woman in dark clothes and scarf with dark lavender hair while she was distracted, causing the woman to drop her scroll. "Oh, sorry." Blake said, the other woman simply nodding before retrieving her scroll and leaving.

"She seemed strange." Ruby commented as the group sat down at the booth. The display skipped a bit before bringing up a prompt to choose who to call. "I'd like to contact the Atlesian Intelligence Committee, Nightfall Task Force."

The screen displayed a "connecting" message for a few seconds before Drake's face appeared on the screen, eyes mostly closed with obvious sleep deprivation.

"Drake Eminence, AIC Nightfall Task Force. How did you get this number?" Drake groaned out, clearly not having bothered to look at the caller ID before answering.

"It's us, sleepyhead." Yang stated. "Long night?"

"Oh, hi." Drake said, letting out a yawn and opening his eyes. "Been working around the clock, and we just got two new team members who don't know shit about what's going on yet. What do you need?"

"We were wondering if you guys have come up with any leads about Kelas." Blake stated. "Also, I was wondering if you finished that neural suppressor? The sleep meds I'm on are starting to stop working."

"The only lead we have is that he's operating out of the Emerald Forest, which you guys already know." Drake sighed. "We haven't been able to narrow down where he's based himself this time, nor do the random hot spots of dark energy follow any particular pattern. We'll keep looking, and if anything big comes up you'll be the first to know." He took a sip from a cup of coffee. "As for that Neural Suppressor, making a device that shuts down specifically the subconscious thought center is tough enough as it is, but you're asking me to make one that targets the part that controls nightmares specifically. It's going to take quite a while to design and build, even longer to get it working. I hate to say this, especially after what you've been through, but you're just going to have to suffer through the nightmares for the time being."

Blake frowned and nodded. "Thanks for the help, I appreciate that you're doing this for me."

"As do I!" Yang exclaimed, wrapping her arm around Blake's neck. "We'll make sure to get any data we collect back to you next time we get out in the field!"

"Thanks, Drake!" Ruby said before ending the call.

* * *

"Sooo, how was your day?" Roman said discreetly, staring out at the crowd surrounding the large tower from behind his sunglasses as a woman in a dark suit with dark lavender hair sat down next to him.

"I got what we needed, but I passed by some Huntresses along the way." Lila said, handing Roman the scroll. "I don't think they were suspicious of me at all, but I'd rather not stick around to find out."

"Excellent, let's get out of this dump then." Roman said, standing and reaching out his right hand towards Lila. "May I?"

Lila smiled and reluctantly took Roman's hand, mouthing the words 'I'm going to kill you' as they started walking away from the tower.

* * *

"Okay, so we've got the plan, the crew, the bombs, and the schematics. We ready to topple this tower?" Roman asked Brick, Lila, and the two generic goons sitting around the moderately sized room.

"Judging from these schematics, half a dozen mining charges placed in strategic locations should be able to topple the building." Brick said, pouring through the schematics and details of the Vale communications tower repeatedly.

"Placing the charges shouldn't be a problem either." Lila stated simply. "There's a lot of maintenance access areas to get to important parts of the structure."

"Awesome, everyone in the Bullhead!" Roman waved everyone towards the stealth prototype, still in their possession. "Neo, you ready to fly this damn thing?" Neo waved her hand just above her head, emphasising her height. "Right, I'll fly."

The Bullhead came to a stop, hovering outside the communications tower. Brick looked out at the building, glancing back at his copy of the schematics for reference.

"I can guide you to the places where the charges need to be planted." He said, looking at Lila.

"Got it." She said. "You two are covering the entrance, make sure nobody sneaks up on us." Lila jumped from the VTOL, followed by the two goons.

She moved quickly to the entrance of the tower, using a hacking tool to crack the keypad while the goons swept the area, before rushing in and moving to the first charge site following Brick's instructions. It took her about 10 minutes to plant the six bombs, all without incident, only to find that their extraction wouldn't be as smooth.

"Hey, you there!" A random patrol officer started walking towards her. "This area is off limits during nighttime hours."

One of the goons jumped out and pointed his gun at the already jumpy officer, the officer shooting him in the leg in reaction. Lila quickly nocked a tranquilizer arrow, firing it at the guard to knock him out, then proceeded to execute the wounded and shouting goon with an arrow to the head.

"We're ready for evac, get us out of here before any more patrols come by." Lila said into her headset, the Bullhead quickly swinging back from it's hiding place.

"What happened to him?" Brick asked, watching the living goon haul the corpse of his dead comrade aboard.

"He was injured and being loud about it." Lila stated simply. "He would've attracted unwanted attention, so I made sure he couldn't."

"I think I'm gonna like you." Roman said before piloting the Bullhead back towards the Emerald Forest.

* * *

 _The next day…_

"WEISS!" Ruby practically tackled Weiss with a hug, nearly toppling the still weakened white-haired girl. "YOU'RE OKAY!"

"They told you I was going to be okay, you dolt." Weiss complained. "If you keep tackling me like that, the wound is going to open back up."

"Sorry." Ruby said, letting go of Weiss and rubbing the back of her head.

"It's good to see you on your feet again." Yang said. "Ready to do some investigating?"

"We're going to go ask Junior some questions, see if he knows anything about what Roman is up to." Blake stated.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Weiss said, walking towards the door. "Evil isn't going to defeat itself, after all."

"Weiss seems weirdly optimistic." Yang whispered to Blake, following their teammates towards a docked Bullhead.

"She's probably just happy to be out of the hospital and up on her feet again." Blake whispered back. "We've all spent too much time in the hospital lately."

"Guess you're right." Yang sighed, boarding the Bullhead.

The Bullhead pilot dropped the girls off outside Junior's club, Yang walking up to the guards at the door.

"Why don't you boys go tell your boss that I want to speak to him, and I'll think about not blasting down your doors this time." She said, staring one of the guards down.

The two guards looked at each other, before the one to Yang's right slipped into the club. Yang grinned widely at the other, the black clad man gulping out of fear. It wasn't long before the other guard came back, followed by Junior.

"What do you want, blondie?" He said, frowning at Yang and the three Huntresses behind her.

"Ohh, I just wanted to ask you some questions about Roman and his new associates." Yang said in a teasing tone.

"Look, all I know about that is what's been going around on the news." Junior said.

"Well, why don't we discuss that _inside_." Yang said, sounding as menacing as she possibly could.

Junior looked from Yang to her teammates, then back to Yang, before waving the group in.

* * *

"So, this tower allows Vale to communicate with the other kingdoms?" Kelas said, looking out over the forest towards Vale.

"Yep." Roman said casually.

"Meaning that, if we destroy it, they will no longer be able to contact anyone outside the kingdom of Vale?" Kelas asked.

"That's correct." Roman said. "And we are ready to bring it crashing to the ground."

"Excellent." Kelas said, cracking his knuckles. "Muulten, how is your Grimm-Human hybrid research coming?"

"It is going smoothly, my Lord." Muulten said. "The cadaver brought back from Roman's operation last night has helped greatly, but I will need living subjects to progress the research any further."

"Good, once the tower falls, start pressuring the kingdom with Grimm attacks. We'll follow suit for the other three afterward." Kelas said, looking over his shoulder.

"Yes, my Lord." The monochromatic being behind Kelas bowed, before disappearing into the forest.

Kelas looked back towards Vale, a grin spreading across his face. "Let's show these people the meaning of terror."

Roman withdrew a scroll from his jacket pocket, pressing a button on it. A minute later, alarms started sounding across Vale as a large plume of smoke began to rise out of the heart of the city.

* * *

"I'm telling you, I know nothing!" Junior continued to plead his case. "The only words that comes out of their group are job offers for hired muscle who don't ask questions. They're ghosts, even in the underground."

"There has to be something." Yang said, cracking her knuckles. "Maybe I could help jog your memory."

"Yang, I think he's telling the truth." Blake said, putting her hand on Yang's shoulder. "Everything they've done since they've been here has been-"

Everyone in the building heard a distant crack before the sound of the emergency sirens started echoing across the city.

"What the hell…?" Yang started moving towards the door before a muttered curse from Ruby stopped her.

"My scroll doesn't have any service." Ruby said, a look of concern spreading across her face. The rest of Team RWBY pulled out their scrolls only to face the same result.

"The communications tower has been hit!" Weiss shouted. "We've got to go now!"

"Got it!" Ruby said. "We'll need a ride. Junior, do you have a radio?"

"Yeah, I keep one in the back just in case." Junior said, not wanting to argue with the Huntresses during a crisis.

"Good, I'll call one now." Ruby said, running to the back of the establishment. She found a small radio setup on a desk in the back of the club and, silently thanking Oobleck for teaching a seminar on historic technologies, turned it on and tuned into the Beacon Academy Emergency Hunter Communication frequency. "This is Ruby Rose trying to contact Beacon Academy, come in."

A voice buzzed back on the radio, "Roger, Ruby Rose, this is Beacon Academy, standby." Ruby waited a second before the voice buzzed back over the radio. "The Cross Continental Transmit tower has been hit, we have dispatched a Bullhead to your team's last known location, can you confirm your current location? Over."

"Affirmative." Ruby replied. "We are currently at Junior's Club in downtown Vale, over."

"Copy, Ruby. Your orders are to assist with the emergency at the Cross Continental Transmit tower in any way possible. The Bullhead is one minute out, over."

"Wilco, Beacon. I will mobilize my team immediately, out." Ruby shut off the radio and ran back to her team. "There's a Bullhead on its way, let's go!"

"How the hell did they hit the tower without anyone noticing?" Yang shouted as they left the club, a Bullhead descending nearby to pick them up.

"I don't know, but we have to get there as soon as possible." Weiss said. "There's going to be a lot of people to help out there before we even start investigating this."

The Bullhead rocketed across the city of Vale at full speed, the sound of the wind rushing by made any more conversation impossible for the short duration to the fallen communications tower. The scene was one of pure terror and chaos, the massive structure having collapsed into the main courtyard in front of the building.

"Holy shit…" Weiss swore under her breath, covering her mouth with her hand.

"What are we waiting around up here for?" Yang growled. "We need to find anyone that might be trapped under there." With that, she lept from the Bullhead, being followed silently by Ruby and Blake. Weiss took a moment to clear her head before following.

Yang began flipping over pieces of rubble in search of any survivors that might be trapped, Weiss helping move some of the pieces with her glyphs, while Blake and Ruby swept the area listening for survivors with Blake's faunus hearing. Blake stopped, looking down and to her right, her cat ears catching on to a subtle noise.

"I think there's someone over here!" She shouted over to Yang and Weiss, who rushed over to help. The noise was coming from under a massive chunk of concrete, presumably a large support section. Yang got a grip under the piece of concrete and lifted, assisted by Weiss' glyphs, only to find the piece of concrete wouldn't budge at all.

"It's too heavy, we need to try something else!" Yang panted, having used all of her energy trying to move the rubble.

"How 'bout some help?" An energetic voice came from behind Team RWBY. The girls turned around to see Team JNPR approaching, Nora waving happily at them.

Blake spoke up to the approaching team, "There's someone trapped under this piece of rubble, we need to get them out."

"Shock me." Nora said, keeping a completely straight face.

"What?!" Ruby exclaimed, confused as to the reasoning behind Nora's request.

"My semblance, silly!" Nora chuckled, smiling at Ruby whose face was reflecting her recollection. "Now, shock me."

Blake snapped a vial of shock dust into her offhand blade and punched Nora in the gut using the handguard, the energy discharging into the redheaded girl. Once Nora was charged, Jaune spoke up to the group.

"Yang, Nora, and I will lift on the rubble. Pyrrha, Weiss, give us some help with your semblances." Jaune said, taking position next to the fallen piece of concrete. The group lifted against the massive piece of rubble, just barely able to lift it long enough for Blake to dart under and pull a black-haired teenager from the danger zone. Upon letting go, the piece of rubble crashed back to the ground and shattered, filling the small pocket of safety where the boy had been with hundreds of pounds of concrete.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked the young man.

"Yeah, just a bruised ankle." The black haired boy said, pushing Blake away from himself. "I thought Hunters and Huntresses were supposed to stop this shit from happening, not clean up after it."

Blake stared dumbfounded at the boy as he walked away, not sure how to respond. She didn't get the time to think of anything, however, as a new figure approached.

"Hey, kiddos, long time no see."

"UNCLE QROW!" Ruby shouted, immediately tackling the raven haired man with a hug.

"You never grow up, do you?" Qrow said, ruffling Ruby's hair. "Is Ms. Schnee taking good care of you?"

"As a matter of fact, I-" Weiss started, only to be cut off by Ruby.

"Weiss is as awesome as ever. Isn't that right, Weiss?" Ruby said, nudging her girlfriend in the shoulder.

Weiss let out a sigh, before speaking up again. "We should really focus on trying to fix this mess."

"The North side has been swept and all survivors have been evacuated to the nearest hospital." Qrow stated with confidence, giving a thumbs up.

"And what about those who didn't make it?" Ruby asked, a serious look taking over her face.

Qrow looked away and ran his hand through his hair. "Too many." He sighed and sat on a piece of concrete rubble. "This was a professional attack. They knew exactly where on the building to hit to cause the most damage, as well as what time this area is the busiest. Inspection crews check the building every week on a random schedule, so they would've had to have planted the charges last night. Probably stole the schematics from the data banks in broad daylight yesterday as well."

"There wasn't anything we could've done…" Blake started, pausing as Qrow stood up and chucked a piece of concrete into the rubble.

"That's the fucking problem." He growled. "Ever since this Kelas guy showed up we haven't been able to do a goddamned thing about him. His power is on an entirely different level and his tactics reflect lifetimes of military experience. He turned a single fucking lowlife thug into an elite fighter in no time at all! That shit just doesn't happen, at least not here! He took down Ozpin on his own while treating the entire fight like it was a fucking game! We could organize the entire martial strength of the Kingdoms of Remnant into a single fucking force and we still wouldn't stand a fucking chance! And now, now he's just crippled our communications with the rest of the Kingdoms! We have him hiding right under our noses with no way to call for backup if he decides he wants us wiped off the face of Remnant!"

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Yang asked, a repressed hint of sadness in her eyes.

"I don't fucking know." Qrow said, sitting back down and pulling out his flask. "Normally I would ask Oz, but that's out of the question. I've tried asking Glynda, but she's as frustrated as I am. Ironwood would just throw everything he's got at the problem until he doesn't have anything left, and that's not what we need to do right now." He took a sip from the flask.

"Well, we can't just give up." Weiss said. "We have to do something."

"That's exactly what your sister would say." Qrow chuckled "And I'm willing to bet you have just as many ideas as she would right now." Weiss raised a finger in protest, about to spit out an idea only to find she didn't have any. "My point exactly. I think the only thing we can do is start preparing our last stand."

The group's conversation was ended as alarm sirens sounded across Vale once again. A Bullhead flew up next to the group and landed a few feet away, a soldier stepping off and running up to the group. "There are massive amounts of Grimm trying to breach the walls, so Glynda's calling a mass evacuation of everyone to Beacon Hill. We need you all back to Beacon at once to help the evacuation effort."

* * *

Kelas strode into a massive spherical room, a walkway suspended halfway above the floor ending in a circular platform at the center of the chamber, and a throne standing at the close edge of a hexagonal table centered on the platform. Kelas sat in the throne, five other shadowy figures flickering into existence at the other sides.

"Phase One is nearing completion." Kelas stated simply, his voice resonating throughout the smooth walls of the chamber. "All of the details you need for Phase 2 are being transmitted to you now. We attack at Midnight the day after tomorrow, 30 hours from now. I want our conquest to be complete before dawn. Strike hard and fast, and those six hours should be plenty of time to complete your objectives. Is that understood?"

"Yes, my Lord." All five figures said simultaneously before vanishing as suddenly as they appeared.

"It's time for this world to bow before me." Kelas murmured to himself before rising from his seat and exiting the chamber, letting it fade into darkness.


	17. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Fade Into Darkness**

Beacon Hill had always given an excellent view of the sunset. Tonight was no different, the magnificence of the orange sky only enhanced by the fires in the streets below. It was beautiful, in a messed up, apocalyptic sort of way. Calming, too, despite the fact that it served as a reminder of the cruel twist of fate that their lives had taken.

Ruby was roused from her thoughts by the sound of someone approaching from behind. She shed her hood and looked back to find Qrow approaching, a look of thoughtfulness replacing the usual looks of boredom or irritation.

"You know, your mother used to come out here all the time to think, back when we were in the Academy." Qrow said, sitting down next to Ruby. "She'd be proud of ya. Nobody could've expected any of this, and the way you handled yourself and your team through it all... "

"I know…" Ruby curled her knees into her chest. "I just don't want it all to end like this. We've fought so hard for so long, Roman, Cinder, the White Fang… I want to protect everyone, and now we're on the verge of losing everything that we've fought for."

"Then keep fighting." Qrow said simply, earning a confused look from Ruby. "The people you've fought off to protect this world feed off of the pain and sorrow of others. Their victory comes not when their opponents are destroyed, but when they lose the will to fight. You've experienced that idea at work firsthand, yet you still have the will to fight them. You carry that scythe of yours with more conviction than I've ever seen from anyone. There is a battle coming, one that will decide the fate of Remnant, and if you give in now, if you give in **ever** , they'll have won before that battle even starts."

"There's no way to beat him though! He went toe to toe with Professor Ozpin and won without even trying! Weiss, Blake, Yang, and I together couldn't stop him! How are we supposed to fight this?" Ruby picked up a stone and threw it off the cliff in frustration, watching it plummet before it disappeared behind the ledge.

"I'm gonna be completely straight with ya here, kiddo." Qrow took out his flask and took a sip before setting it down between Ruby and himself. "No, you can't beat him. You could take every capable Hunter and Hunter-In-Training and Remnant, put them all against him, and we probably still wouldn't win. The one thing, however, that would irritate him to no end is for us to fight him until we're dead, to deny him the pleasure of watching us break. It's much more honorable to go down in a blaze of glory fighting all out against insurmountable odds than it is to give up, and it would also serve as the ultimate way to piss the guy off. So, when the time comes, I expect to see you out there in front of everyone, leading the charge and showing the world that nothing will break the great Ruby Rose."

"I guess you're right." Ruby sighed looking up to find Qrow sticking his flask in her face.

"Good, now take a sip of liquid bravery and go show everyone what a hero looks like." Qrow chuckled, Ruby rolling her eyes as she pushed the flask away and stood up, turning towards Beacon.

* * *

 _Downtown Atlas, 11:55 P.M._

Drake sat at the edge of a helipad, situated on top of his highrise penthouse in the heart of Atlas, staring intensely out over the massive metropolis. The AIC Headquarters building stood off in the distance, towering over everything else around for the benefit of the advanced detections and communications equipment held within. 'Whole lot of good all that did us this time around.' Drake thought, averting his eyes to the cloudy sky above. Remnant's broken moon barely shone through the cloud cover, though that didn't interest him much as a shadow blocked it out and a pair of arms wrapped loosely around his neck. As his grey eyes adjusted, they locked with a pair of bright violet eyes, a waterfall of red-pink hair taking over his peripheral vision.

"I've been looking all over for you." Amaranth said, staring down at her husband. "I figured you would be building some sort of superweapon right now."

"It's not a big suite, couldn't have taken that long." Drake said, returning his head to an upright position.

Amaranth rested her chin on Drake's shoulder, her faunus cat ears brushing against Drake's hair. "There's a lot of business executives and movie stars that would be jealous of how much space we have, and that doesn't answer the question of what you're doing out here in the middle of the night."

"Thinking." This earned a hum of curiosity from Amaranth. "I don't know, something just feels… wrong." A raindrop landed on his head. "There wasn't supposed to be rain tonight."

Amaranth lightly turned Drake's head towards her and planted a kiss on his lips, before pulling away and smiling. "Well, come inside before it picks up. You smell like a dog when-" She was cut off as a shadow cast itself over the entirety of the city.

Drake and Amaranth looked up to see a wedge-shaped silhouette blocking out part of Remnant's moon, surrounded by numerous other silhouettes of varying shapes and sizes. "Why did I have to be right?" Drake groaned.

"I'll get the VTOL ready." Amaranth said, springing up towards the large aircraft sitting on the helipad.

Drake pulled out his scroll and tapped on Lupa's name on the display, just as a flash of red followed by an explosion came from the direction of Atlas Academy caught Drake's attention, the gadgeteer looking over to see a pillar of fire, smoke, and debris where the CCT tower once stood, half a dozen pillars of red light levelling the rest of the academy seconds later. "FUCK!" Drake shouted, leaping into the back of the VTOL. "Am, please tell me we have an old-fashioned radio in here!"

"Of course we do, it's required on all-"

"Good!" Drake shouted, cutting his wife off. "Where is it?"

"Up here, you numbskull." She pointed to the radio in the cockpit of the craft.

Drake rushed to the cockpit and tuned the radio to the AIC emergency frequency. "AIC, this is Drake Eminence, I am on route sixty seconds, prepare a report of everything FOLLOWING the destruction of Atlas Academy, out."

"That wasn't proper eti-"

"I don't need them telling me what I already know, goddamnit!" Drake shouted, his hands losing color from the tightness of his grip on the radio and his eyes locked forward in a furious glare.

Amaranth slipped her hand into Drake's, freeing the radio from his hand and hanging it up before intertwining her hand with his. "We'll stop them." She said softly, a look of worry in her eyes.

"Sorry about that." Drake replied. "I don't know if we can." The pair rode on in silence, arriving at the AIC helipad to find Ikari, along with a brown haired male and purple haired female, both fox faunus.

Ikari spoke up as the couple disembarked from the VTOL. "Thanks for getting here right away, everyone is in full panic mode. Russet, give him the update."

The male faunus spoke up. "At precisely Midnight, we detected 35 massive metallic objects appearing in-"

"Appearing?" Drake cut him off.

"Yes, as in 11:59:59, no objects, 12:00:00, 35 metallic objects in low orbit above the surface of Remnant." The man known as Russet continued. "Exactly thirty seconds later, we detected a discharge of extremely concentrated and heavily amplified light energy from the largest of the objects. Six more discharges followed a second later."

"So they just appeared and started shooting extremely high powered lasers at us from space?" Drake questioned, receiving a nod from Russet. "Continue."

"At the time of your radio transmission, we were detecting close to 250 smaller objects descending towards Atlas, as well as 100 each on trajectories that would put them near the other three kingdoms." Russet finished.

"How big are the ships in orbit?" Drake asked.

Russet looked over at the faunus woman standing next to himself. "Catalina?"

"Uhh, right." The purple haired girl pulled out her scroll. "We couldn't tell for sure, as the objects are giving off a lot of interference, but judging from an estimated distance compared to how big they look, the largest seems to be around seven kilometers long, the rest ranging from one to five kilometers."

"Shit, that's big." Drake muttered. "Has Ironwood given any orders yet?"

Ikari gave Drake a pained look before speaking. "Ironwood's last known location was Atlas Academy Tower. To anyone's knowledge, he hadn't left the place since Professor Ozpin's funeral." Drake cursed under his breath repeatedly. "Lupa is on his way now, apparently he was home when the orbital strike hit."

"Alright, let's get inside and start coordinating troops to critical positions around Atlas." Drake said. "They'll at least be on alert when the main assault hits."

"Why haven't they hit the AIC?" Amaranth spoke up.

"Given what we know about Kelas and his tactics," Ikari responded, "his target was most likely the CCT tower. Even in a full brute force assault, terror tactics would be important to him. Crippling communications is an obvious step for that."

"Wouldn't a military hub like the AIC still be a target then?" Amaranth asked, not comforted by Ikari's answer.

"Creating false hope is another element of his fear tactics." Lupa's icy voice rang from the elevator of the office space. "Aside from the assault force descending on us from above, there are massive amounts of Grimm clawing at the walls of the city, which will likely collapse before the rest of the enemy even makes landfall. We've got nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, and Kelas is leaving us with a fighting chance for the opportunity to watch us break." Amaranth's gaze fell to the floor, the air around her sparking with her anger. "There are two possible outcomes. The first and near impossible is we fight them off. The second, which is significantly more likely, is that we die in defence of the city. Either way, I sure as hell don't intend to give them the satisfaction of a surrender." This earned multiple 'Hooah's from around the room before everyone resumed their work. "We should probably get out in the field. Our abilities will be more use-"

"SIR!" A voice spoke up from within the crowd of intelligence workers. "The Grimm have breached the walls of the city!"

"God damn-"

"SIR!" Lupa was cut off again by a different worker. "Many of the smaller objects have accelerated their descent to the surface! Ten seconds to impact!"

"Shit!" Lupa slammed his hand on the desk next to him, startling the young mouse faunus who was sitting at it. "They're trying to cut off movement around the city. We have to get out there now!" Lupa lead the group of Hunters out to the helipad just as the first drop pods made landfall across the city. "It's time I introduced you all to the express elevator." At that, the wolf faunus jumped the rail around the rooftop and began sliding down the concave wall of the tower, with Catalina, Russet, and Ikari following after taking a moment to steel their nerves.

"No way in hell I'm doing that." Drake said, turning towards the door back into the building. "I'll take the stairs, thank you."

Amaranth grabbed him by the collar of his overcoat. "We're not gonna be down a man for precious moments because you're afraid of heights."

"It's falling, actually." Drake rebutted, raising a finger in protest.

"Well have fun conquering your fears." Am said before she shoved Drake over the railing and off the building.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO MEEEEEEE" Drake cried as he fell, watching Am leap the railing and slide down after him. As he neared the bottom, he felt his fall starting to slow before he landed gently on the ground.

Amaranth landed gracefully on the ground from her slide, smiling down at Drake. "Because I knew Cat wouldn't let you go splat." She reached out a hand towards her traumatized husband. "Now get up, we have bad guys to kill."

Drake grabbed his wife's hand and stood up, just as a drop pod landed in the courtyard of the AIC tower. He brushed off his trenchcoat and cleared his throat before speaking, "I suppose we do."

The doors of the drop pod fell to the ground, revealing three shadowy figures clad in black armor. The center wore the heaviest armor, a dome shaped helmet adorned with a crown of spikes sitting atop bulky plate armor that left nearly no opening, a thick round shield with a ring of runes surrounding a jaw pattern in its center hanging from its left arm and a cylindrical mass of living flesh with only a mouth full of razor sharp teeth held by some sort of handle in his right hand. To its right was a 7 foot tall creature in knight's armor, two horns extending from the helmet and a massive zweihander as tall as the creature itself resting on its left shoulder, its fiery red eyes locking on to the group of Hunters. The third was armored in scale mail armor, standing upon mutated legs with four mutated limbs ending in curved blades extending from its back, a full helm with gas mask concealing its face and head.

"Looks like we're in for one hell of a fight." Lupa groaned, drawing his sword. "Drake and Ikari, take left. Cat and Russ, you two take the right. Uh… Amaranth, was it?" Amaranth nodded. "Can you back me up on the center guy?"

"He won't know what hit him." Amaranth said, sparks of electricity flaring into the air around her.

Lupa was the first to make a move, dashing with blinding speed towards his opponent before lunging in with a downward jab meant to strike under the helmet, only for his sword to glance off of the shield of his enemy. He followed through into a sweeping kick towards the legs which the armored creature jumped with unnatural agility, forcing him to roll into a backflip to avoid a slam from the shield. The maw of the mutated hunk of flesh opened to reveal three gun barrels which began to spin up before unleashing a torrent of high explosive shells towards Lupa and Amaranth, forcing the two to leap in opposite directions. The black clad monster kept its sights trained on Lupa, the agile wolf faunus barely able to outmaneuver the unnatural reaction speed of the monster. Amaranth moved to the monster's flank and unleashed a massive lightning bolt towards it, only for it to rotate and put its shield in the path with insane speed. Lupa dashed in to attack while it was distracted, swinging upwards with his sword to try to disable the monster's shield arm, only for his attack to be dodged with the armored foe thrusting the living minigun towards him, the jaws of the weapon just barely missing Lupa's arm as he jumped back out of the way. The creature levelled off its shield at Lupa, the jaw pattern on it opening and releasing a massive blast of black energy, Lupa rolling out of the way at the last moment and reducing the effectiveness of the blast to a burn on his left arm.

"This thing is ridiculously fast, and on top of that seems to have a sixth sense and crazy reflexes." Lupa huffed, checking the burn on his arm.

"Tell me something I don't know." Amaranth spat back. "No matter how we fight it, it's just going to block or dodge then throw everything back at us once we're out of energy."

"How long can you sustain a bolt of lightning?" Lupa asked, brushing himself off and lowering into an attack position.

"I can for a while, why?" Amaranth followed suit and readied herself, the air around her crackling with electricity once again.

"I have an idea. Keep his shield arm occupied as long as possible." Lupa said, before dashing back into the fight.

Amaranth's lightning bolt made contact with the monster's shield just before Lupa made it up, a snaking blade shooting out from within his right sleeve and crossing in front of the monster, Lupa dodging another swing from the fanged firearm before making his way around to the other side of the creature and leaping back over it, repeating the process before anchoring the snake blade in the ground and raising his sword towards the monster. He stepped in, delivering blows to the weak points in the creature's armor at blinding speed. Signaling for Amaranth to stop, Lupa took a step back, the monster standing motionless for a moment before breaking the snake blade with a single movement of its right arm, the minigun extending and unleashing a hail of bullets at the exhausted wolf faunus, Lupa ducking out of the way and behind cover, but not before taking a few grazing hits from the bullets. The monster turned its focus to Amaranth, the maw of the shield opening again and firing a small blast of black energy, Amaranth dodging with catlike reflexes only to find another blast headed straight for her face, barely avoiding that before a third hit her square in the gut and sent her back against a supporting pillar of the AIC building.

Meanwhile, Drake and Ikari were busy avoiding the relentless and wild assault from the tall creature, Drake juking a downwards swing from its massive sword, Ikari rushing in for a dual-bladed counterattack only to be forced to block a massive sweeping swing from the monster's blade followed by Drake coming in for a blow from behind and taking a kick to the chest in retaliation.

"Ikari, can you slow this thing down?" Drake huffed out between labored breaths.

"On it!" Ikari shouted back, eyes turning dark red.

The monster started to give a little, not used to the increased pressure caused by Ikari's semblance. Drake returned his weapon to its railgun form, quickly firing off two shots which were barely dodged by the monster which rushed towards Drake and swung its sword down again, embedding it in the pavement where Drake was, its movements noticeable more sluggish. Drake returned his weapon to its dual blade form, swinging for the monster's weak points to find each blow just barely dodged before being forced to backflip an off-handed punch. The monster swung its sword wildly at Drake, the experienced huntsman dodging the animalistic attacks easily before stepping in close and striking its left wrist with an electrified blade and forcing it to drop the zweihander. Drake swung his blades in a scissor strike for the neck only for the monster to grab him by the arm and throw him towards Ikari, Drake landing on his feet with practiced ease and halting his slide next to Ikari.

"Hurry it up, would ya? I can't keep this up forever." The red-eyed Huntress growled out, eyeing the black knight cautiously.

"Yea… I think he's adjusting though." Drake said, watching the monster as it retrieved its sword and rested it on its shoulder, standing straight once again.

Drake rushed in, dodging another horizontal swing from the monster's blade before the creature froze, Drake's eyes glowing as he slashed through the armor multiple times with his electrically charged blades. As he released the time bubble, the monster fell to pieces, a dark ooze spanning the areas where he had cut. He caught Amaranth taking a blow from a bolt of dark energy out of the corner of his eye, distracted just long enough to take a blow across the head from a boot attached by a string of black ooze. The monster pulled itself back together, the cracks in its armor still existing, before rushing Ikari at insane speed and batting her into the wall surrounding the courtyard with its sword.

On the other side of the courtyard, Russet swung his longsword fiercely at the bladed armed monster, the monster dodging before swinging its two right blades at the faunus who was now rolling out of the way. The area was bombarded with steel feathers from above, the monster dodging what it could and blocking the few feathers that it couldn't. The feathers dissolved into a fine steel dust and floated back up to the giant steel Nevermore being controlled by Catalina who was focusing her control from within a defensive shield formed by Russet's glyphs. Russet rushed back in, aiming a slash across the chest, the monster blocking with one of its right arms and attempting to counter Russet with its left arms only for Russet to step back and spin into a crouch, swinging for the legs and landing a grazing blow as the mutant dodged. Catalina harassed the monster from above with the steel Nevermore, allowing Russet to move back in and swing with two hands from the right and appearing to trip as the monster moved to block, reversing the swing of his sword and rolling into a wide slash from the left which caught the mutant across the back. This only seemed to make the creature mad as it turned towards Russet and started flailing its blade arms wildly after the Huntsman, landing a number of grazing hits in the process. Catalina put a large feather through the back of its shoulder, pinning it to the ground only for its arms to reverse completely and cut the majority of the feather away. It removed itself from the tip of the feather before rushing towards Catalina and striking at the barrier around her wildly. Catalina collapsed the dust from the feather and used it to immobilize the mutant, allowing Russet to come in for a backstab but finding himself running straight into a number of blades emerging from the creature's back, one of them running through the side of Russet's abdomen before he could dodge. The creature worked itself free of the steel dust and jumped on the weakened barrier, catching Catalina across the shoulders as it broke and Catalina was forced to move.

The blade armed mutant stood over Catalina, raising a blade in preparation for the finishing blow before suddenly taking a face full of concrete as a pillar of earth knocked it backwards, the ground caving in under it as it landed. It got up and tried to claw its way out before it was swallowed up and crushed under the earth. On the other side of the courtyard, the giant swordsman staggered as a flying axe struck it across the helmet, turning to find another being thrust into a crack in it's armor, the redhead attached to the weapon muttering "Burn into ashes." before it was consumed in a roaring inferno. The third demon hesitated, seeing how quickly its two comrades fell, before an explosion went off right behind its head, knocking it over and breaking its helmet off, revealing a deformed mound of flesh that barely resembled a head. A black haired man in a tattered business suit walked around to the side of the monster, putting half a dozen bullets in its 'head' from a handgun.

"Heard you were having a party, decided I would bring a couple friends." The man spoke up, wolf ears twitching having lost the hat part of his signature getup.

"And who said you were invited?" Amaranth's voice rang across the courtyard.

"Aww, don't be like that, sweetheart." Nero whined, putting on the most innocent look he could. "You know there was something between us."

"There was _never_ anything between us," Amaranth scowled at the thief, "and if you call me 'sweetheart' one more time I'm going to feed you to the Beowolves. I heard they like their meals extra crispy."

"Or we could _not_ feed a perfectly capable Huntsman to the Grimm while the city is under attack." Lupa stepped in. "You got here just in time."

"We would've gotten here sooner if blondie over there didn't have to stop to crush every Grimm we passed by." The redheaded man said, retrieving his thrown axe. He wore a pair of black slacks and combat boots with a burnt orange leather vest revealing charred bandages around his chest and torso as well as his arms, his long fiery red hair hanging over his eyes.

"They would've eaten all the weak… uhhh… citizens if we didn't!" The blonde responsible for entombing the blade demon argued. She wore an amber colored asymmetrical sleeveless top, amber pants with black tribal decals, and a pair of black boots.

"And you two are?" Lupa asked expectantly to the two who accompanied Nero.

"Amber Cierna, ready for battle!" The blonde said enthusiastically.

"Mars Fall." The redhead responded simply, in turn.

"Fall? As in the-"

"Yes, the nephew of Cinder Fall." Mars cut Lupa off. "Don't worry, my one and only goal in life is to put that bitch in the ground." His deep black eyes didn't break contact with Lupa's silver eyes.

"That's… good to know. We appreciate the help, _all_ of us." Lupa said, turning towards Amaranth who huffed and turned away to help Drake up.

The group fell silent as the sound of a bunch of objects landing at the gates resounded throughout the courtyard. As the smoke cleared, a figure clad in heavy jagged black and red armor with a closed helm adorned with a crown of six horns, holding a longsword in its right hand and a massive revolver handgun in its left, stood in front of a legion of heavily armed and armored soldiers.

"I had hoped my champions would have at least pushed you back into the tower, I love an uphill battle." The lead figure boomed out in a gravelly and distorted voice. "But then again, nothing has been going quite as planned today. Try not to die in the crossfire, I would love to tear each one of you apart myself."

* * *

 _Beacon Academy, 11:55 P.M._

Ruby sat at the gates of Beacon Academy, staring off into the sky. The night had been quiet thus far, but Ruby felt like something bad was going to happen very soon. She heard Weiss walk up behind her, leaning back into her girlfriend's lap as Weiss knelt on the ground behind her.

"What are you doing out here?" Weiss whispered to the silver eyed Huntress staring up at her. "Blake and Yang said they would take the night shift."

"I can't shake the feeling that something is about to happen." Ruby whined. "I don't want to be caught off guard if I'm right about this."

"We have a third of the school, including some of Beacon's best, patrolling the walls. We don't have to worry about anyone sneaking up on us." Weiss tried to reassure Ruby as best she could.

"That's a lie and we both know it." Ruby pouted. "We're up against someone who could appear smack in the center of the school and start wreaking havoc if he felt like it. I'd rather lose a little sleep than die without ever waking up." She sat up, eyes widening as a faint red light flashed down to the horizon to the north. "Did you see that?"

"See what, Ruby?" Weiss asked, concerned.

"A flash of light, to the north." Just then, six more flashes of red blinked rapidly on the horizon, appearing to have come from the sky.

Weiss gasped in shock as her eyes widened as well. "Atlas…" She whispered, hand moving to cover her gaping mouth.

"We need to let Glynda know now!" Ruby said, jumping up and hauling Weiss with her by the arm. They only made it halfway back before sirens sounded across the school.

"I think she knows, Ruby." Weiss said, digging her heels in to halt the headlong charge of her partner. "We should go meet up with Blake and Yang."

"Right." Ruby nodded, following Weiss back towards the gate. As soon as they got there, they found Blake rushing straight towards them.

"Good, you two are up!" Blake shouted as soon as she noticed the two. "There's a massive amount of Grimm moving towards the Academy. Yang's hitting them from a distance, but that's not going to keep them back." Blake turned around to see Yang running towards them, a couple dozen younger Huntsman and Huntresses following her.

"Close the gate!" Yang shouted to her three teammates, waving and pointing back at a Giant Deathstalker that was cresting the Beacon cliff in pursuit of the group. Blake and Weiss moved off to the gate controls on either side, the doors of the gate beginning to close as Yang and the Hunters made it through. One young Huntsman tripped as he made it through, the Deathstalker closing in fast and striking through the closing doors, but hitting only rose petals as its tail is pinched in between the doors, the stinger being promptly removed by Weiss to allow the gates to close the rest of the way.

Glynda and Qrow ran up to the group just as the gates closed, looking over the winded group of Hunters in front of them.

"What the hell happened?" Qrow asked, Yang raising her hand and catching her breath for a second.

"Shit ton of Grimm, very angry Deathstalker, barely made it back alive." Yang spat out between breaths, an angry roar coming from beyond the walls as the Grimm outside rattled on the gates.

"You're right, it is worse here." Glynda said to Qrow, the Huntsman simply taking a sip from his flask.

"Well, Team CFVY and Team CRDL are in control of the other areas, Team JNPR is on their way here. I say we make any last-minute preparations we can and then blow the fuckers to hell once they figure their way through that gate." Qrow drawled out before looking at Team RWBY. "You kiddos, keep everyone organized."

"What about you?" Weiss questioned Qrow, almost accusingly.

"I'm the manager." Qrow shot back in a matter-of-fact tone. "My job is to tell you all what to do while I sit around and drink. You, Ms. Schnee, should know as well as anyone how that works."

"That is not-" Weiss was cut off before she even started her rant.

"This is no time for games, Qrow." Glynda scolded the scythe master. "Just this once, I need you to take things seriously."

"There are different kinds of serious, Glynda." Qrow shot back. "I know what's at stake, but these kids aren't gonna fight their best if they let that weigh them down." He walked up to Glynda and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I'm scared as fuck right now, more scared than I've ever been in my life. So, how do you think that feels to all of them? Things are easier for them if the people they look up to act like they're not fazed by any of it, so we, not just me but _both_ of us, have to act like we're all going to make it through this." He started to turn away before pausing. "For their sake, Glynda." With that, he walked back towards the crowd of Hunters bustling around and started ordering people around, much to the chagrin of Weiss.

Glynda sighed, turning and walking back towards Beacon Tower just as Team JNPR arrived. "You're just in time. There are Grimm at the gate, so we're digging in before they can breach it. Help out in whatever way you can, and don't listen if Qrow tells you to do something stupid."

After a short time, the yard between the gate and the rest of the school was fortified with a makeshift palisade made from whatever could be retrieved from within the school. Everyone started taking up defensive positions, Qrow sitting on a nearby rock that gave him a clear view of the gate. Looking around, he noticed a figure dressed in a black hoodie and pants with white shoes walking along the wall towards the gate.

"Hey, you, what are you doing over there?" Qrow shouted out at the figure.

"Greetings, fellow human. I am human too, just like you. Don't pay any attention to me." The figure called back.

"There's an army of angry Grimm on the other side of that wall. If you don't want to be eaten, I suggest you come over here where all the defenses are." Qrow shouted, narrowing his eyes.

"Don't worry, human. I am not scared of the Grimm. Don't pay any attention to me." The figure called back.

"Look, do you have a death wish or some-" At that moment, Qrow noticed the figure was headed straight for the gate controls. "Hey, don't touch those! You'll let all the Grimm in!"

The figure stopped with its hand hovering just over the button to open the gate. It turned its head and made eye contact with Qrow, revealing a face that was half black and half white, a glowing white eye on the black half and a jet black eye on the white half. "Don't worry human, you won't be scared of the Grimm for long." It called out with a nonexistent mouth, pushing the button down.

Qrow's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. "Everyone get ready!" He shouted, moving back among the crowd of Hunters as Grimm began pouring through the gates, led by the maimed Deathstalker. Qrow rushed in to meet the Deathstalker head on, wasting no time as he ducked a swipe from its claw and caught it below the jaw with his scythe, killing it instantly. Team RWBY and JNPR quickly followed suit, charging forward and cutting through the waves of Grimm descending upon the courtyard.

Muulten watched from the sidelines as the Grimm mindlessly charged their foes, the larger and stronger ones meeting their end at the hands of the veterans at the front line while the weaker beasts were allowed to slip past only to get picked off by the small army of less experienced Hunters and students. Muulten observed the older black-haired Huntsman who appeared to be the leader of the group. He was experienced and powerful, moving with purpose and a lethal grace only seen in the most seasoned of warriors, but his agility and reaction speed gave away his actual age. The scythe style greatly resembled that of the young red-hooded Huntress, with a few differences in technique that showed many more years of adaptation, but his movements were sluggish in comparison. Despite this, the relentless onslaught of Grimm didn't even faze him as he carved a path through the ravenous beasts. Muulten decided that this was unacceptable, and decided he should take action.

Qrow cut cleanly through the head of a giant Beowolf, what he figured to be his 30th kill of the night, before ducking the swipe of an Ursa Major and cutting through its torso, leaving its gut wide open. After watching his latest kill slump over, Qrow instinctively raised his scythe to block just as something slammed into it and pushed him back a good ten feet.

"What the fuck…" Qrow spat, regaining his balance and looking over at what hit him, finding the half-and-half creature eye smiling at him. He sighed and took out his flask, taking a swig from it before returning it to his pocket and lowering into a fighting stance. "Whatever, let's do this."

Before Qrow could even react, the creature was right next to him with a punch ready, forcing him to roll back before swinging his scythe, catching the air as the creature was already moving again. He came in with a flying kick at extreme speeds, forcing Qrow to duck, before stopping himself mid-flight and swinging down at Qrow with a hammer-fisted blow, causing the Huntsman to do another evasive roll and swing again with his scythe, catching the air once again.

Muulten grinned as he appeared above the black-haired Huntsman, rolling in the air as he came down and met the man's scythe with a hammer kick and causing the ground beneath them to cave under the pressure. Qrow used this to duck down and swing at Muulten, only for him to twist in the air around the swing. Qrow brought his scythe back around and down onto Muulten in an attempt to hit as he was landing, but Muulten made it to the ground just in time, pivoting on one foot and driving Qrow's scythe into the ground before using it to swing into a kick that slammed the veteran huntsman square in the chest.

Qrow's mind blanked as his opponent's kick slammed into him, forcing the air from his lungs and shattering multiple ribs before sending him rocketing backward past the other hunters into a stone pillar, the force causing it to collapse on him. Qrow shrugged off the debris, seeing the black-and-white creature walking towards him as his vision stopped spinning. A young huntsman ran up from the side and swung at the creature with a sword, only to have the blow dodged and his neck broken by a single blow, Muulten catching the boy's sword in his hand and appearing in front of Qrow.

"That was a pretty good fight, Mr. Huntsman." Muulten cackled. "However, I am on a schedule for killing your little army here before my Lord arrives, so I'm afraid this has to end."

Qrow watched as the black-and-white man raised the sword above his head, unable to move due to the massive amount of damage his body had taken. As the blade flashed down towards him, he heard a crash as his vision was engulfed by a rose red, rose petals falling around him. He looked up to see his niece grinning down at him, the enemy's sword grinding against her scythe behind her.

"This isn't over yet, Uncle Qrow." Ruby said. She turned, dislodging Crescent Rose from the sword she had blocked and swinging violently at her enemy, her scythe catching only air as the man dodged again. "Weiss, Blake, Yang, I'll need your help for this."

"Nobody expected you to do this alone, you dolt." Weiss shot back, drawing her sword and revolver.

"We've got your back, Ruby." Blake said, lowering into an attack stance.

"Let's fuck him up, sis!" Yang shouted, pumping her fist and loading her Ember Celica.

"Let's go!" Ruby shouted, launching forward from the recoil from Crescent Rose while propelled by Weiss' glyphs, missing Muulten with a swing by centimeters as he dodged to the red-hooded huntresses' right, meeting a black blade arcing with lightning and barely flipping backwards only to find himself being slammed in the gut by a blaze of yellow followed by an explosion ripping through his body, sending him flying back into a mass of spiked ice shooting up from the ground, shattering it as he was impaled on the ice before being slammed in the back by a shocking pain and seeing a blur of red careening towards him and feeling the blade of a scythe slamming into his torso, another jolt accompanied by a loud bang as he was sheared in half by the girl in the red hood.

"Well then…" the dismembered upper half of Muulten said in a surprised tone. "...that didn't go quite as expected. This means that I am behind schedule, though not that it matters too much. That just means master will have to clean up a bit more himself." Muulten's lower half dissolved away, quickly reformed back to the upper half, Muulten standing back up shortly after.

Ruby lowered back into an attack stance before a chill of dread froze her in place, her eyes widening in horror as a black silhouette dropped from the sky into the middle of the army of huntsmen and huntresses, cries of pain and agony echoing out as the shockwave rippled through the courtyard. As the dust cleared, the silhouette stood, massive black wings stretching from its back.

"The time of Huntsmen and Huntresses has come to a close." The figure spoke in a deep and malevolent voice. "The reign of Darkness begins now."

* * *

"And just who the hell are you?" Mars spat out at the heavily armored figure, licks of flame flickering in and out of existence around him.

"Me? I am Katereth, the Devourer, Chosen of Khorne, and right hand to Lord Kelas. Since you have made it this far, you each get the honor of me sending you off to oblivion personally." The massive warrior spoke.

"Like **HELL** you will!" A streak of red flew across the courtyard as Ikari slammed into Katereth with her sword, the black-clad warrior not budging an inch despite the force of the impact between their weapons being loud enough to echo through the city. Ikari's eyes widened as the giant pushed back, sending her flying back across the courtyard and into the concrete of the central spire of the AIC.

"One word of advice," the armored man growled out, "if you want to have _any_ hope of defeating me, you'll have to do a lot better than that."

Mars and Russet darted in, dancing around the warrior in a flurry of flame and steel, Nero appearing behind him for a split second before disappearing again. Mars and Russet jumped back out of melee range just as a large explosion went off right behind the monster, the force of the blast staggering him forward into a growing pit in the ground, the fluid earth swallowing him up as he fell in. Lupa and Drake darted to the now closed grave, Lupa driving his sword down with a flash of light and Drake firing his weapon straight into the ground, before the two jumped back as a massive steel stake drove into the ground where the warrior fell in, a massive jolt of lightning striking it as it slowed to a stop.

There was a moment of silence as the group waited with bated breath, Catalina helping Ikari back to her feet. After a few seconds of relative peace, the giant stake in the ground started to rise back out of the ground slowly before the steel dust was dispersed by a burst of energy from below. Rising out of the hole on a jet of flame came Katereth, unscathed save for a few scratches in his armor and two still glowing slugs embedded a couple millimeters into his chestplate.

"Is that all you've got?" Katereth laughed as he slowly descended to the ground. "After your display against my champions, I had honestly hoped for more. Then again, mortals do have their limits."

The group stared dumbfounded at their armored foe, unsure of what their next actions to be. They were snapped out of their stupor when a civilian ran into the courtyard, slowing down and panting as he approached the main entrance. The young man appeared to be in his mid 20s, his dusty brown hair, white button-down shirt, and khaki pants drenched with sweat.

"Oh thank goodness I made it. Another minute out-" the man stopped as he noticed the scene in front of him.

"Are you stupid?" Drake shouted at the man. "Get the fuck inside or you'll-"

He was cut off as a loud boom resonated through the courtyard. Everyone's eyes widened at the gaping hole that was now in the man's torso, a fine spray of blood hitting Mars and Catalina, watching him fall to the ground before turning back and focusing on the smoking-barreled revolver in their opponent's hand.

"You bastard!" Catalina screamed, tears streaming down her face as she barreled forward on a flowing wave of steel.

Katereth raised his sword at his coming attacker, the blade glowing red with a sinister aura, before meeting the wave of steel with a horizontal slash, a blast of red energy radiating out from the swing, pushing the wave back and sending Catalina flying. Lupa and Russet were the next to join the fray, meeting the juggernaut's sword with their own blades before breaking off to avoid getting thrown away by the inevitable counter. Lupa darted back in, gracefully dodging a downward slash before delivering a blow to his opponent's side only to have his sword glance off the heavy armor before getting slammed in the side of the head by an armored elbow and collapsing on the ground. The armor clad man raised his blade for the finishing blow only to be briefly blinded by a bright flash, his vision readjusting to see an inferno-engulfed Mars slamming into him, surprisingly being pushed back a couple feet before the redhead stepped off muttering curses under his breath and holding his right arm. Before he could take action, his attention was shifted by two shells slamming into his shoulder plate at extreme velocity, staggering him as the ground rose around him and began to close in in an attempt to crush him. Another pulse of his dark energy shattered the earthen coffin only for him to be bombarded by a wave of small explosions before a card fell at his feet, encasing his legs in ice. Amaranth took her turn next, unleashing a powerful electrical discharge at the armored being who attempted to block with his sword, only to have the weapon torn from his hand. With an opening finally presenting itself, Ikari charged in and jumped, using her semblance to drop into a powerful helmet-splitter blow, the sound of metal on metal ringing out through the courtyard as her two-handed blade met Katereth's helmet.

Ikari's eyes went wide as she stared at the crimson energy dissipating from halfway up her sword against a jet black backdrop, small clinking noises resonating through her mind as what was left of the upper half of her weapon fell around her. She looked up at the monstrous man standing before her, obviously grinning despite the fact that she couldn't see past his closed helm.

"Well, now isn't that a shame?" Katereth chuckled sarcastically before grabbing Ikari's left arm with his recently emptied right hand. "I guess you won't be needing this anymore." He jerked Ikari around, forcing her to drop her sword before wrenching his foot out of the ice and placing it behind her shoulder. She let out a scream as her arm was twisted backwards in its socket, before Katereth pulled her arm out with a gut-wrenching crack, letting Ikari fall to the ground beneath his boot.

The entire group stared at the scene in front of them, still processing what had happened. Mars was the first to snap out of it, muttering curses under his breath once again before turning towards Lupa.

"What now?" He asked quietly, keeping one eye on the monster facing them down.

"We make an opening, grab her, then fall back and try to defend this place as long as we can." Lupa stated confidently, though a definitive note of hopelessness could be heard behind it.

"And hope we don't die hellishly slow and painful deaths." Drake added.

They hardly noticed Catalina marching forward towards their enemy until she let out a cry of rage and attempted to take off running. Before she could make it far, Nero appeared in front of her and delivered a swift punch just below her chest, slumping over the shoulder of the man in front of her.

"Better than letting herself get shredded by that fucker." The black-haired faunus said in response to the incredulous and pissed look that Russet shot him. "Let's just hope she wakes up tomorrow."

* * *

Kelas' arrival had frozen everyone in their places, both in awe and in fear, giving him the perfect chance to size up his surroundings. At nearly 9 feet tall, he towered over every other person there, his stature even larger than many of the Grimm in the surrounding area, though his appearance was far more primal given the jagged horns protruding from his forehead and sweeping back along his head, the bony spikes lining his spine and exposed right arm, and the black wings protruding from his back. He locked eyes with the red-hooded girl in front of him, an ornate black kama with a large curved blade materializing in his hand.

Ruby barely had time to react, instinct telling her to move as she rolled to her right out of the way of a downward swing from the God's hand scythe, retaliating with a swing of her own scythe only to meet the shield-arm of her opponent. Kelas pushed back and swung his kama, forcing Ruby to flip backward to avoid being beheaded, the cloaked girl responding with a spinning swing aimed for behind his shoulder. He rushed forward and slammed the girl with said shoulder, both avoiding the attack and staggering Ruby, before continuing his momentum into a punch from his left arm, his symbiote churning to form a spiked ball around his fist. He was surprised to find a gleaming gold shield suddenly blocking the path from his fist to his target, the man behind it having actually been strong enough to halt his momentum. Seeing this as nothing more than a nuisance, his symbiote wrapped around the edges of the shield before he pulled the bearer off-balance and delivered a swift kick below the jaw of the young man and sending him sailing across the courtyard. With the obstruction removed, Kelas could see another, more familiar, blonde charging at him, embers trailing in her wake. He moved to deliver a left-handed punch to her face only for the blow to be ducked, the blonde delivering a right hook to his chest. The lackluster effectiveness of the feint attack allowed him to drop into a headbutt, the impact from his horns causing Yang to curl downward, her jaw dropping into a swiftly rising knee, lifting her off the ground as her head snapped back up. After taking a moment to watch Yang slump to the ground, Kelas turned to face the hail of bullets coming from a pair of black-clad fighters who were weaving around each other in a swift charge. He launched forward and swung his kama at the young man on his right, catching air as Ren slid under his swing while the cat-eared woman flipped over his opposite shoulder. Kelas extended his symbiote into a lash and swung around in an attempt to hit the two new opponents only to miss once again as Blake gracefully rolled under the blow upon landing while Ren did a rolling jump over, the two of them simultaneously delivering a kick into the God's chest as a blur of red dropped in from above, Crescent Rose catching on the back of Kelas' neck as the red hooded girl it belonged to planted her feet into his chest and pulled the trigger.

Time seemed to slow as the blade of Ruby's scythe cleaved through Kelas' neck, the eyes of the three involved lighting up with a glimmer of hope for a split second only to widen as the body of Kelas turned into a shadowy cloud, the God quickly reforming above them to deliver a falling kick to the ground beneath them, sending Blake and Ren flying back and causing Ruby to crash land into the jagged shattered concrete as any semblance of solid ground was demolished before she could land. Kelas quickly darted in and grabbed Ruby by the face in his left hand, dragging her through the ground at high speed before throwing her at point blank through a large pillar with enough force to send Ruby flying through it and slamming into the next one, causing it to shatter. Ruby was saved from being crushed by the falling rubble as Weiss darted through and caught her, setting her down next to Jaune, who had finally made it back to the frontline, before darting off towards Kelas and letting off a hail of high-explosive dust rounds as she charged. Nora took this as her queue to join the fray after having blown the head off of a Beowolf, launching herself through the air and slamming Kelas in the back with her hammer, staggering him before he could catch Weiss with a retaliatory blow, the heiress' blade barely scratching him as she made her pass. Kelas took a swipe at Nora with his left arm, sending the redhead flying backwards as she blocked, before focusing his attention back on Weiss and charging in for a kick, smashing a pillar of ice as Weiss moved out of the way. At that moment, Kelas felt something metal ricochet off his horns, looking over to see a girl with long red hair poised to strike as a disc-shaped shield returned to her left hand only to then feel something slam into his back. Pyrrha took this distraction as her queue to strike, lunging in as Kelas turned to slam the man behind him with his left arm, only to yelp in surprise as the God unfurled one of his massive wings into her and knocked her over while Jaune just barely ducked the swing intended for his head. Pyrrha rolled back up and flung her shield at Kelas' left leg, the disc hitting behind his left knee and causing him to stagger, Jaune taking advantage of the situation to strike Kelas across the chest with his sword, only to stare dumbfounded when he found that his weapon had absolutely no effect. Kelas grinned and swung his kama, catching Jaune's shield with it and ripping it from the smaller man's arm before delivering a swift kick below his jaw. Pyrrha cried Jaune's name as this happened before being forced to roll back as Kelas fired off half a dozen black spikes from his left arm towards her, the spikes branching explosively as they reached her and managing to pierce the girl through the calf, pinning her to the ground but otherwise leaving her miraculously unscathed.

Kelas moved towards the now pinned redhead slowly, savoring the situation. It reminded him of prey in a hunting trap, given the choice of painfully removing their own limb or die by the hunter's hand. This moment, however, was interrupted when a blur of red slammed into his side with a furious battle cry. He regained his focus just in time to duck the scythe that came in to finish the job before grabbing the red hooded girl by the leg and tossing her to the side like a used rag. Ruby landed on her feet and grinned at Kelas as he was slammed in the back by a powerful blast, turning to find a black-haired man with a tattered red cape staring him down, also brandishing a scythe. Kelas grinned as he held is kama in the air, with a flick of his wrist the small hand-scythe extended to a full size scythe, the weapon slightly oversized even for someone of Kelas' stature.

Ruby and Qrow charged their opponent from both sides, swinging their scythes in unison at the God, Kelas spinning his own scythe in the air before bringing it down into an angled horizontal swing, locking his blade with that of Ruby's scythe while the opposite end of the shaft caught under the blade of Qrow's scythe. Kelas braced his weapon against his body and spun, using his opponents' momentum to throw them away before using his own momentum to bring his scythe back down towards Qrow, missing as the veteran Huntsman used the built-in gun to move out of the way of the swing. Kelas lunged forward, lifting off the ground with his wings and diving into a barrel roll led by his scythe. Qrow managed to block the first three rotations before being forced to dodge out of the way of the following four. Kelas broke the roll and floated into the air, hovering for a moment like a poised bird of prey before lunging into a frontflip and swinging his scythe back down on Qrow, the man flipping backwards out of the way as the scythe was embedded into the ground in front of him. Kelas lunged forward once again, sliding his grip up the scythe before spinning, using the outward force to extend his strike towards his opponent. Qrow returned his weapon to sword form and blocked just in time, the force of the strike sending him sliding across the courtyard.

Ruby propelled herself forward with her sniper-scythe, charging into a sweeping swing from behind Kelas, the god dodging with a forward roll before retaliating with a sweeping strike, meeting Ruby's scythe as she swung into an upwards strike. Ruby recoiled from the clash, nearly dropping her scythe. She then used her semblance to get behind Kelas once again, attempting a downward slash only to meet the god's shield-arm. Qrow used this chance to dart in from behind, attempting a slash at Kelas while he was vulnerable, only to hit air as the god disappeared from in front of him. Kelas reappeared behind Qrow, slashing the huntsman from his right shoulder to his left hip across the back, Qrow falling to his knees afterward. Kelas lined up the killing blow, ready to behead the huntsman before him, only to have the swing blocked by Ruby. The huntress launched herself into a series of wild spinning blows, forcing Kelas on the defensive as he began to block and dodge the whirlwind assault. Kelas stumbled over rubble created during the fighting, leaving an opening for Ruby to slash him twice across the chest. Ruby continued the spin only to be stopped as Kelas grabbed her scythe and took of into the air, spinning around on the way up before flinging the girl into the ground at high speed.

Ruby didn't really feel the impact. Her vision went blank and her ears started ringing the moment she hit the ground, but the adrenaline made her oblivious to the initial pain. After a couple seconds her vision started to fade back in, the white-noise ringing in her ears being replaced by the rhythm of her heartbeat as a viscous liquid tasting of iron began to pool into her mouth. She coughed as the liquid started making its way into her lungs, the shock sending a jolt of pain through her. She was suddenly aware of every inch of her body crying out to her in agony, unable to move and hardly able to breath. Her vision began to clear up, revealing what looked to be the edges of a crater and a blurry black silhouette moving towards her, her heartbeat still throbbing in her ears as the sounds of continued fighting began to become discernable. For a moment, Ruby thought that it was Qrow who was standing over her, but that hope was quickly dashed by the deep, ominous chuckle that came from the figure.

"That was a good effort, Miss Rose, but the efforts of mortals are far from enough to stand against the actions of gods." Ruby could see Kelas' grin as her vision focused, the man holding Crescent Rose out in front of him as his massive wings began to unfurl. "Though I have to applaud you for managing to wound me. Not even your headmaster was able to accomplish that. However, this is the end of the line." Kelas punctuated the declaration by snapping Crescent Rose in one hand and tossing it on the ground.

"You…" Ruby coughed up more blood, "You'll never break me."

"It's not you I need to break, child." Kelas said before lifting Ruby by the neck and tossing her toward the rest of the battle going on. " **WITNESS!** " Kelas shouted over the noise of war and death, causing every living creature on the battlefield to freeze in their places. Kelas walked up to Ruby and held her up by her hood, levelling the blade of his scythe against her throat. " **THIS IS THE END OF THE WORLD OF REMNANT! YOUR LEADERS HAVE FALLEN, YOUR GUARDIANS HAVE FAILED! BOW TO YOUR NEW GOD…** " Kelas swept the crowd, taking in the reactions of the Huntsman and Huntresses, " **...OR DIE!** "

Kelas readied himself to behead the defeated Huntress before him. As he tightened his arm to drag the blade of the scythe through Ruby's neck, he was blinded by a golden light accompanied by something slamming into his chest, forcing him to drop the scythe as he was pushed back. Kelas slid 100 yards before managing to gain traction and stop himself, his vision readjusting to see a dark-haired man with golden eyes, the man dressed in ornate gold and platinum armor with an ornate shield and longsword all sheathed in a radiant golden light.

"Fuck," Kelas swore under his breath, "Ghederon. How did you…?"

" **THIS WORLD DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU, DEMON!** " the man shouted in reply, levelling his sword at Kelas. Kelas drew his sword in response, preparing to charge.

" **I'LL BE DAMNED IF I LET THE LIKES OF YOU GET IN MY WAY!** " Kelas shouted in reply, lunging into a charge and meeting Ghederon halfway between their original positions, the clash of their blades shattering the ground and levelling the nearby architecture of the courtyard.

The two broke off, Kelas taking off into the sky only to have Ghederon follow on his own wings of golden light. They clashed repeatedly in the air, each blow letting of thunderous shockwaves which shook the surrounding area. Breaking the stalemate, they landed a hundred yards away from each other. Kelas poured his energy into his blade, Ghederon following suit, before the two rushed forward once again. Their clash released a blast which shattered an entire section of the cliff, causing it to fall off onto the city below. Once the dust cleared, the crowd could see Kelas kneeling in front of Ghederon, blood pouring from his right shoulder.

"This isn't over." Kelas growled to his opponent before dispersing into a black mist.

Ruby looked up at the long black hair of the woman holding her, the radiant golden armor she wore obscuring most of her features. She could feel the pain coursing through her body fade away. "You've done enough here, young one. It's time for you to rest." A soft warm voice reached her ears just before she faded out of consciousness.

* * *

Ruby awoke to a hospital room, the bustle of activity going on all around her. She could make out various familiar voices, team JNPR discussing something nearby along with the sound of Glynda and Qrow having a conversation with a voice she didn't recognize a bit further away. She felt sore all over, her muscles not wanting to cooperate as she tried to stretch a little, but otherwise feeling no evidence of the injuries she remembers sustaining. She groaned, trying to stretch her muscles a bit further.

"She's awake!" Ruby heard Yang shout from right next to her. "Ruby, you're awake!" She saw Yang's golden hair and lavender eyes appear in her field of view.

"Y-Yang…" Ruby muttered, still trying to recollect what all had happened.

"Ruby, how are you feeling?" Ruby heard Blake say as the black haired Faunus appeared on the other side of her field of view.

"I… I feel sore." Ruby replied, stretching again before sitting up. Once she was upright, she was met with Weiss' face right in hers, her girlfriend staring her down intensely. "W-Weiss…"

"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO AND SCARE ME LIKE THAT, YOU DOLT!" Weiss shouted, Blake and Yang both visibly taken aback by the outburst. Ruby saw Weiss start to tear up, her stern expression breaking down into one of mixed worry and happiness. "I-I thought you… you were g-going to…" Weiss burst into tears and tackled Ruby, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Ow, Weiss, still really sore, ow." Weiss loosened her grip and pulled back a bit. "What's important is I…" Ruby paused and looked around the room, all eyes on her and Weiss, "...we're still here. All of us." Ruby pulled her team into a group hug.

"Alright, enough with the reunion, we need to talk business." Qrow walked around the side of Ruby's bed, followed by Glynda and the mystery woman who Ruby saw before she went unconscious.

"You… what happened?" Ruby asked.

"Divine intervention. This time of a friendlier variety." Qrow said, taking a swig from his flask and earning a glare from Glynda.

"Again, I would very much prefer it if you didn't call it 'Divine Intervention'." the mystery woman spoke up. "We are not technically divine beings, and we're just mainly doing our jobs, really."

"Well that's one hell of a job you guys did." Qrow replied. "Anyhow, Kelas is gone and apparently so are his lieutenants judging by the reports we've gotten from the other cities."

"Wait, how long was I out?" Ruby questioned frantically.

"Only about 48 hours." Glynda said. "Atlas made it first priority to restore communications."

"What about that black and white guy?" Ruby asked.

"Judging by the remaining darkness in this world, Kelas probably left him behind to continue work here." The other woman spoke up.

"Which means Roman is probably going to be active as well." Ruby said.

"Don't forget about the White Fang and the Coalition." Blake piped in.

"Who are you, anyway?" Weiss turned to the mystery woman.

"My name is Angela. I'm responsible for the team meant to stop Kelas' incursions into 'real' space." The woman looked away awkwardly "We would've stopped this one sooner, but we weren't expecting Kelas to unlock so much of his power so quickly, much less to use it to jump to other dimensions."

"So, you're going to stay and help, right?" Yang asked hopefully.

"Sadly, I cannot." The woman replied. "We have reason to believe that Kelas was readying an attack on my own universe during his time here in Remnant. Despite his defeat here, I have no doubt of his intention to follow through with his incursion at full force."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do about what's left over?" Blake snapped, glaring at the woman.

"You are strong enough to protect your world, do not doubt that." Angela pleaded, trying to calm the irate faunus. "Every universe has darkness, and in turn has its chosen defenders to ward it off. There is no doubt in my mind that the Hunters of this world, especially you four, are the chosen defenders of this universe. If you push your limits and believe in yourselves, just as you did when facing Kelas, you will be able to bring peace to your world once again."

"And what if Kelas comes back?" Ruby asked, hesitantly. "It's… it's not that I don't believe in us, because I really do, but we're not meant to fight gods. Gods are your darkness, and your guardians are made to match that, but our darkness is Grimm, mindless monsters that have very little power of their own. The best we were able to do to the people controlling them was send them into hiding."

"Well, if all goes well on our end, you won't be seeing any more gods." Angela smiled at Ruby. "However, I have no more time to dwell here, I must head back and prepare for the God of Nothing in all his terrible might. I wish you luck, Huntresses of Vale. Show this world that good can win!"

With that, Angela disappeared in a flash of white light. Qrow sighed, taking a swig from his flask.

"You kids should get some rest. Tomorrow, we gotta start rebuilding. First step to that is restoring communications and transport between the Kingdoms, namely Atlas." He drawled out. "By the way, one of your Intelligence Committee friends, Ikari, had her arm ripped off. Heard it's pretty bad, but she's stable right now. Might wanna go and see her once we get there."

"What? That's horrible!" Yang exclaimed. "We should be heading there right now! What are we-"

"Slow down, kiddo. You just got done with the battle of a lifetime." Qrow cut in. "We have time for now, while the dust settles. We need to take our time, do things right. Otherwise, everything we've worked for and all the work we have yet to do will all be for nothing."

Qrow and Glynda left, leaving the Heroes of Beacon to socialize amongst each other as they pleased. Blake sat on her bed, staring out the window at the sunset on the horizon.

"It must be horrible to be a god."

The End


	18. Epilogue

**Epilogue: Machinations of the Madmen**

Two men sat in a dimly lit room, one dressed in black and the other in white, each with the hair to match.

"The prophecy didn't come to pass. The Dark One was stopped by the light of his own world." The one in black said.

"All the more evidence to the randomness of the universe, if even the gods are controlled by the hands of fate." The one in white replied.

"What shall we do now, brother?" The one in black inquired.

"What we always do, my brother. We forge onward towards the True End." The one in white replied.

"Sounds excellent. Mr. Torchwick and the Dark One's minion are probably still collaborating, the White Fang doubtlessly has persevered against the storm, the Coalition is likely to have survived as they always do, and Ms. Fall is bound to be roaming about the aftermath. We should use them." The one in black concluded.

"Impeccable idea, brother." The one in white praised. "Together, we can finish out the prophecy as intended."


End file.
